please help me

I posted on pregnant and kittens but no help yet.
My kitten is 5 months old and while the best kitten in the world she can not get the hang of the litter box. She will use it mostly if confined to large bathroom (no carpet in it). but the minute she is out she uses carpeted areas all around the house. she has never gone back to her box if out of BR and after i put kitty boxes in all the areas she uses she poops right next to it. never has she used a box outside her BR.
I love her but I can't keep her if she can't get the idea.
Is she still young enough to help?
Is she retarded? I thought cats were easy to train.
She is not unhappy, stressed, or anxious. She is laid back, sweet, purring, playful, and eating well. She loves to be with our dog. A jack Russel terrier. She was born into a home with a Jack Russel and takes their yappiness in stride.
Please help me so I can keep this cat.
ps
i tried kitten attract litter she wont use it. I use natures miracle for messes. cat stop. laid a tarp down.
one thing we moved to this house in march. the people before us had a small dog that had issues. when i used the black light wand i found areas illuminated all over the carpet(could not have been Zoey)
I can't afford to re carpet just to have Zoey destroy it.

My one rex was like that all her life. She would pee in the box but if the box was on a rug/carpet, she would poop right next to it. Only thing that resolved the problem was to put the box on tile/linolium where she would do both fine.

She did it as a kitten, as an only cat, and as an adult with other cats. I tried everything - and nothing worked other then to keep the pan on the tile floor.

Was the only cat I ever owned who did it - no one had a solution or explanation.

Hi. I'm sure someone will be here to help you. I don't have experience with this. I hope you can keep Zoey. Poor baby.

Did this problem just begin or has she always had trouble with the litter box?
Have you tried different types of litter?
Have you tried rewarding her when she DOES use the box? I don't know if this works, but I've heard others have done it.
Do you think that the dog prevents her from getting to the box when she is not confined and that is why she goes on the carpet?

well goldenkitty that is extremely depressing. i can not have a cat p'ing and pooping around my house even if she is the perfect cat except this issue.

Merlynns Mom thank you for the support. to answer you q's
she has always had this issue
I have tried 5 different kinds of litter she has only used worlds best but the new bag I got looks different and now she will only use it for pee.
I reward her when she uses it with wet food, treats, and freedom.
The dog does not prevent her from going anywhere and is outside most of the time.

I am really getting depressed by this. I love her I wanted a cat for ten years and my husband would not allow it. Getting a kitten was one of the first things a I did when I left him. I was so worried my Jack Russel terrier(jrt) wouldn't adapt or would scare the kitty. Nope they get along great sleep together play etc Zoey was brought up in a house with a JRT. What serendipity that I answered this ad for a kitten.

You mentioned that a previous dog had gone all over the carpet. That means there may be still scent in various places. When you used the Nature's Miracle, did you use it everywhere the stains are? Also, you need to use a lot, really soak each affected area so that it gets down to the carpet pad underneath.

I think it might be a good idea to shampoo the whole carpet, to see if that fixes the problem.

Or do as some suggest, and put a small square of carpet in the litterbox... that sometimes works for a cat that has developed a preference for a particular surface/texture.

You may have bought the wrong kind of World's Best (there's original, and multiple cat). If your kitten shows improved performance on one kind of World's Best, make sure that is the only kind you buy.

Ok, if the previous dog peed all over, then you might want to call a professional cleaner for the entire rug and tell them there is old pet pee stains in the carpet so they bring something stronger.

Nature's Miracle is more for a few spot cleaning - not the entire carpet.

I'm sorry you are having such a problem. It sounds like you have tried a lot of senisible things. The only I can think of is that you have to do something about that carpet. I would do as GoldenKitty45 suggests and get it professional cleaned. Be sure to tell them about the pet stains. If that doesn't work, replace the carpet.

I have gone to petsmart and have 2 fold plan.
1 i purchased a 1.5 gal natures miracle with a spray attachment (motorized even!) I will go over the whole rug with it. Then
2 i bought cat nip mist and will spray the areas with that if she tries to go again in those areas.

I will use my carpet cleaner with a mix of natures miracle and soap if the spraying doesn't work.

I have hopeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Catnip attracts cats, though, not repels them. I wouldn't spray it on a place you want the cat to avoid.

I had another thought: cats won't go to the bathroom where they eat. So if there's one particular area where the cat is having accidents, you could temporarily leave a plate of dry food there... after a while that would establish the spot as an eating place in the cat's mind.

yes catnip attracts but my thought was if she is attracted to the spot for pleasure she wouldn't want to defile it.
I did put food bowls in the areas but our dog just eats it. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe i will put dog food (dry) in the area my dog loves cat food but eats her own food more sedately.
I think I will keep her confined again mix the cat attract and reg worlds best ( i bought a new bag today , another hundred dollars in petsmarts coffers lol)

Welcome Bless you for trying with this little one. Would love to see photos when you can. You have lots of good advice here. I think the reason so many people recommend waiting to adopt out kittens until they are 12 weeks old is so that mom can finish teaching them social niceties, like litter box protocol Having another cat helps with this - they teach and learn from each other.

I got my Daphne at 8 weeks, too. She has never had a problem (knock on wood). I think it may be because she has Seb to learn from.

Seb will have accidents rarely: usually when he feels the litter box isn't as clean as he would like or hen he doesn't feel well. To get him to go back to the box, I watch until he gets near it, place him in the box and shake his treat can. Then he knows he will have a treat when he is done. He is very food motivated.

Not sure this helped at all, but just know you aren't alone. Litterbox issues are very common. Please keep us updated

Another thing you could try is take her to the litter box every couple hours, or shorter depending on how often she usually goes, and try to get her to go. I've been doing that with Samba for the past couple days and it seems to be working. I'm so sorry for your problem, I know how bad it is, Samba does pretty much the same thing. I hope you get the problem fixed!

Manda

I just want to say that I am impressed with your strength to at least try different options.

I see way to many posts on other boards where people just throw the cat outside or drop it off at the APL.

All the suggestions you have gotten are great ones and I hope they will help.

I have one cat that will not use the litter box. For some reason she prefers a towel. I have several old ones and I just leave one in the corner of the bathroom and she goes on that. I replace it with another old towel whenever I see or smell anything on it.

She just refuses to share the boxes with the other cats. Of course it is not the ideal situation but it is the only thing I have come up with to keep her from going in other places. As long as she has her towel she will go there.

I forgot to ask -- has a vet checked her for urinary and intestinal problems? There could be a medical reason.