Cat pooping outside litterbox please help!

Hi everyone,

I adopted a 2 year old cat from a local shelter about a month ago. When I picked him out I just about fell in love, he was so friendly and giving me kisses! The shelter volunteer helping me with the paperwork told me before I agreed to adopt him that there had been previous issues with them catching him going poop on the floor and not in the litter box, but he was peeing in the litterbox fine. They felt it might be because he was in a room with 10 other cats (its a fairly crowded no kill shelter) and would maybe be fine as an only cat. Well we have brought him home and it is continuing. He will pee in the litterbox unless the litterbox is not clean then he will pee on the floor as well, but he has taken to pooping in a similar spot on my kitchen floor. he will try to bury it on the floor and always does it when no one is looking.  It is also not hard stool but a soft toothpaste consistency and he only goes once a day. i do not know much about his past before his adoption except that he was left at the shelter when he was about 8 months old in a box outside. I love him to pieces and have been trying all sorts of methods, more then one litterbox, using this calming  cat naturopathy remedy in his water to reduce stress, but nothing. When he had his last visit to the vet a few months ago they said intestines were fine so its not medical. He really eats only dry food so I'm not sure its food related. Any suggestions? I have had cat most of my life and I would never get rid of him for this but its starting to drive me and my parents nuts, especially from the smell and trying not to step in it =/

thanks!
Kristin

[Bkitty]

Has he been checked for worms?? The vet can do a test on the feces its pretty fast. I have the same problem with my kitty Beener,,,he poops on the floor even if the litter boxes are clean. He is 17 and going senile,,but I have him trained to go on a puppy pad. I put the pad in his poop spot on the carpet and he faithfully poos on it. Its sooo hard to break cat behavior. I wish you the best!~Bkitty

[lilmisskris0307]

He was checked for worms and cleared for them back in august of 2011. I think it may be of a behavioral cause but now he is also peeing.outside the box once in a while even if I have scooped.out his box. I don't know why he could be stressed hes the only cat and my parents and I are fairly quiet and he gets plenty of affection and he sleeps with me every night. I've shown him where the litterbox is and placed him in it so I'm just so confused

[opus88]

has he been to the Vet lately? he really needs to have a urinalysis done and his PH checked, its very common for male cats to have crystals in their bladder and these can be very painful....these males will pee or pooh outside the litter box to try and tell you 'it hurts' when I go....
this will happen especially to males that are on a dry food diet. males especially need to be fed can foods with the extra fluids to keep the PH neutral and control crystals...&/or cystitis
inappropriate elimination is very seldom due to behavioral issues, its more often a medical problem.
I urge you to have him checked by a Vet..
I have included an excellent website on this problem, please read it all..good luck and keep us posted

http://catinfo.org/?link=litterbox#If_Faced_With_an_Inappropriate_Elimination_Problem:

[babs824]

i believe it is behavior related but my research tells me that all dry is a bad diet for kitties. i adopted a kitty in january and found out in feb that he is diabetic. i changed to low carb hi protein and he is on insulin. i also tried all kinds of litter. ever clean is his favorite. he did pee outside box which clued me that he was sick. best of luck, babs

[lilmisskris0307]

No his last visit to the vet was in August of 2011 according to the records the shelter gave me. He also had a couple upper respiratory infections back in october ( I adopted him in january) but besides that he has been fine. His behavior is normal he is eating and drinking normal amounts ( i think he may have actually gained weight) and he is incredibly playful and affectionate. he doesnt seem to be straining for bowel/urination he just tries to hide when he is doing it but his box is down in my basement away from people so I cant understand if its people hes afraid why he wouldnt go in it. He's picked my kitchen floor for bowel movements and within the past two weeks urinating in this one spot on the carpet where he once went poo even though I have cleaned it already with enzyme cleaner. @ opuss88 thanks for the website he was on a mostly dry diet at the shelter but weve got him on wet food now anyways