litterbox problems

hi everyone
everything was going really great with Macho and the litterbox but this problem started when he went to explore the ground floor of the house where he found the indoor plastic garden he just went into the plastic tiny balls and did his thing,,at first he only does it when no one is arround then he just started doing it anyway he'll just go down the stairs and straight to the garden,when i saw him once i stopped him and took him to his litter box,we tried to wash away the smell and it kinda worked for a few days but then he just did it again,i tried to punish him but it also didn't work..
what confuses me is that he uses his litterbox most of the times but when he turns to CRAZY MACHO or he's alone he'll just run down the stairs to that spot,, i also caught him once peeing in the bathroom plant sometimes i think that this is his way to catch our attention
he's healthy and the litterbox is cleaned many times a day and changed completely once a week

i really don't know what's wrong with him

I have a similar problem with my cat. He just loves to dig and go to the bathroom in flower pots. The way I have aleviated the problem is to cover all my planters with a layer of gravel. For a while I put strips of aluminum foil on top of the gravel to discourage him going in there.

My guy also goes to the bathroom around the same time each day. For a few days, I would baby sit him in the bathroom until he used his litter box and then praise him a LOT and give him a treat or two. Positive reinforcement goes a long way.

Good luck!

I think the problem is your garden and plants are more attractive to him than the litterbox. It's really not his fault. Think about it-- from his perspective, is there really much difference between the sandy box you've set out as the "correct" place to do business and the nice dirt in the plants, or the plastic balls in the garden? How very confusing for the little chap.

So, you either have to find a way to make those more attractive options inaccessable, or less attractive...of course that's always easier said than done. Honestly, I don't have any plants big enough to do the deed in because they were just too much of a temptation.

We had a rather large tree - and they loved playing in the dirt. We had to get rid of it because we just couldn't figure a way to keep them out of it.

Sorry to say it - but kitty doesn't know the difference between soil and litter.

You'll have to figure a way to prevent access to the plants. Perhaps a mesh screen?

There's also a product called "cat attract" (our vet sells it) that you can add to the litterbox. It smells very much like greens/soil. That might help too.

Laurie

unfortunatlly the foil trick won't work with lil Macho he just loves foil making the garden less attractive ,, well i tried removing the tiny plastic balls for a few days and it workde fine but tha garden didn't look fine at all if you know what i mean should i remove them again for a couple of weeks?

well, i'm assuming you have a 'fake' garden that Macho likes. could you try putting a litter box near the garden and putting some lemon slices in your plastic garden?

agree about the positive reinforcement - a little goes a LONG way.

lemon slices? well i didn't try that but it seems like a good idea ,, i'll try it and i'll let you know
thanx