Life hack from Alyson: What to do with cat litter in your toilet

I still miss Hobbes and Cheddar.

I still miss Hobbes and Cheddar.

If you have a cat (or more than one cat), the chances are that you have litter at least one litter box (one good ‘rule of thumb‘ for these is to have 1.5 boxes for each of your feline friends). Most people I know use clumping litter. If you know how it works, it may make little sense to dump your litter down the toilet. The reason for this is simple; litter turns into concrete when it comes in contact with water.

This actually happened to me so this is a good way to deal with litter in the toilet.

I went away for a business trip and when I got home I learned that the person taking care of my cats, Hobbes and Cheddar, thought a time saving thing would be to pour their litter down the toilet. When I walked in, several days later, this had turned into concrete and my toilet was completely blocked. Or so it seemed. I called several plumbers and got estimates. The bottom line was that it looked like this was going to cost several thousand dollars. OUCH!!!’

Well, that sucked so I went online and looked for DIY solutions. I found one. It suggested using liquid Joy (lemon). I spent the next six hours pouring the dish soap into the toilet with warm (not hot) water, plunging, waiting about 30 minutes and then repeated it about every 30-60 minutes until the toilet was completely clear.

Steps:

  1. Buy lemon dish soap
  2. Add soap and warm water to toilet
  3. Let sit for a few minutes
  4. Plunge for a few minutes
  5. Add more lemon soap and water, let sit
  6. Repeat until drain is clear

I cannot promise this will work for you but it worked for me.