My friend bought a foreclosure and we are trying to learn as we go fixing it up. The toilet is full of a sludge mix of urine/feces/water who knows. Have to empty it out to remove the toilet and get the drain working again but not sure how to do that. Can I remove the sludge with a shot vac? Other ideas? What is the appropriate method of disposable?

The shop vac is probably the best option, if it will work.

Suggest that you put a large plastic, heavy duty plastic bag in shop vac prior to starting. In fact I would double bag it just in case you have a leak.

If the shop vac can extract the sludge, transfer the contents to a larger container and add water. Seal bag and wait for sludge to liquefy. Dispose of liquid waste in sewer. Do not dispose of solid waste down sewer.

Basically, you have two Options:

Option 1: Remove toilet from the floor, put it on dolly, take it outside, flip it over, take garden hose and clean it with running water. Once cleaned and free of deposits, bring it back and reinstall.

Option 2: Go to Hope Depot and buy brand new toilet - like Glacier Bay for $88.00 with seat and all hardware. That's what my clients would ask me do in such situation as they would not want to use a toilet left in such a bad shape by some strangers.

Hope that helps. Milo