# Cat box in dishwasher **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137 "2011-05-08T06:01:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/21 "2011-05-08T17:20:29Z")
Instinctive immediate response: FUCK NO!!! Ew ew ew ewwww yuck yuck ew! Stay away from my dishwasher!! Slightly more reasoned response: Ok, seriously, ew. Even if there’s no bits left over (and there usually are…) why on earth do you need your litter box that clean? I would be worried about my dishes forever afterwards, and I don’t need those thoughts, thanks. I’m not even pet- or germ-phobic! I let my cats wander around on the counters, they occasionally lick my food (which I then eat) and I’ve been ‘doggie kissed’ by so many animals at the shelter that I can’t even begin to think about how many germs I’m picking up from them, but \*that \*idea is just a whole 'nother level of icky. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/22 "2011-05-08T18:23:25Z")
Add me to the **Hell No!!!** crowd. Was it here, or somewhere else where there was a debate about cleaning toilet seats in the dishwasher? ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/23 "2011-05-08T21:19:37Z")
Gross. For the same reason I also don’t pee in the sink, nor bring food or dishes into the bathroom. Also, having washed a litter box in the bathtub, and subsequently clogging the drain from the “residue” (clumping litter, mostly dust with some dirty pee stains), I expect it would actually completely mess up the plumbing in the dishwasher. The stuff is designed to clump when wet, and there’s an awful lot of wet in a dishwasher cycle. ---
**Author:** ![kathmandu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kathmandu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kathmandu)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/24 "2011-05-08T22:26:10Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > That’s revolting. If I found out someone I knew had done this I would never eat at their hous again. +1. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/25 "2011-05-08T22:47:53Z")
I thought seriously about doing it once. And for all that my rationalist, materialist mind knew that I could clean out the filter and that nothing would be harmful or unsanitary or even unsavory about it, I decided that everyone in this thread is right. It _still_ would be gross. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lovely_Margo_Lane)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/26 "2011-05-08T22:55:33Z")
I wouldn’t do it because it seems like more trouble than it’s worth. My catbox is big and my dishwasher is small. When I lived in an apartment without easy access to the hose-outside-bleach-soak method I used to use the bathtub. Usually in the same apartment cleaning frenzy weekend where I’d scrub the tub too. That said, in principle the idea of catbox in the dishwasher alone without other dishes really doesn’t bother me. I’d want to be extra sure all the bits of litter were out so as not to clog the drain, and I’d put bleach in too. I wouldn’t do it if I had a pregnant woman, little kid or immunocompromised person in the house, but there’s lots of things I do regularly that I wouldn’t do under said circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/27 "2011-05-08T23:36:20Z")
Why not use disposable catbox liners? Then you don’t have to deal with The Wrath of Dopers, all of whom seem to be up in arms about the dishwasher use and are ready to tear down your house. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/28 "2011-05-08T23:36:44Z")
Nope. And I’m not a germaphobe. Outside, wash with soap, soak in bleach water. That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/29 "2011-05-09T00:28:32Z")
Aside from being gross, it would also be very hard on the cat to be put through a dishwasher. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/30 "2011-05-09T00:48:56Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > That’s revolting. If I found out someone I knew had done this I would never eat at their hous again. I kinda want to ask the OP where they live. So, I know never to eat there. Just buy a self cleaning litter box. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/31 "2011-05-09T00:53:53Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > 1. It would likely be a lot more than a molecule. I’ve fished fairly large bits of crud out of my dishwasher filter. Dishwashers have a filter? And I’m supposed to be cleaning it??? Interesting… This reminds me of the roommate’s anal beads in the dishwasher thread. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/32 "2011-05-09T01:37:11Z")
I am a slob. But I think this would be where I draw the line. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/33 "2011-05-09T01:40:59Z")
I just asked my family and a rousing “Oh HELL No” followed. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/34 "2011-05-09T01:42:49Z")
I am about the least germophobic person you’ll find but that grosses ME out! ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/35 "2011-05-09T01:47:09Z")
Good Christ yuck no!!! Agreed with those who say it doesn’t need to be that clean. Hot water, cleanser of choice, soak as needed, scrub brush. :: shudders :: ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/36 "2011-05-09T01:59:15Z")
Whoa what? Dishwashers have a filter??? ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/37 "2011-05-09T02:13:20Z")
Well, people seem quite passionate about the issue. Very few fence-sitters here. Thanks to all commenters. I would say that there are two main grounds for objection: practical germophobia, and the psychological, “ew that’s gross” (ETG) reflex. Interesting to note, the former does not predict the latter - you can be germophobic and pro-dishwasher, as long as your ETG response is low, if you consider the pathogenies festating in an open poo box to be resistant to normal hosing and scrubbing. This may be a semi-rational course, assuming your machine is up to the task, but most people here seem to have a low ETG threshold. I have passed this data to the interested party, who actually does practice litter box dishwashing - she is skeptical of the validity of the poll, but thanks you all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/38 "2011-05-09T02:23:47Z")
NOT A CHANCE. About three times a year I empty the oft-refilled dregs of cat litter and throw the entire mass out. Then I put the empty box in the tub, pour about a cup of bleach into it and fill to the brim with hot water. Let it sit for a couple of hours, then use the an scrub brush to get around the top edge of it. Empty out, let dry for an hour or two, then put back and refill with litter. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/39 "2011-05-09T02:48:43Z")
Oh HELL NO. If you dipped it in hot lava afterwards I still wouldn’t eat off dishes cleaned in it. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137/40 "2011-05-09T03:47:02Z")
> [@Vashbul](#): > > I have passed this data to the interested party, who actually does practice litter box dishwashing - she is skeptical of the validity of the poll, but thanks you all the same. Please tell me that she does not work in a restaurant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-box-in-dishwasher/581137.md?page=3)