Pooping on paper

Hi,
One of my cats seems to be super, super fussy about how clean the litter must be in order for him to poop in there. Over the last couple of weeks I've had a real problem with him going just next to the box (and the vet has assured me he's in good health) if it's even a wee bit dirty.

Now, the litter I buy him (which is the only one he'll use) is pretty expensive and I can't afford to replace it twice a week. But the vet told me that if you put newspaper down in the tray and just put about a cup of litter in the middle for the cat to claw at then they'll be perfectly happy.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has any experience with this method and if so, how easy it was to train their cats to adjust to the new method.

An automatic litter box could keep the litter clean for your cat; or you could just scoop after every time he goes (if it's practical--obviously you can only do that if you're a homemaker). Two boxes to choose from could help, too... some cats like one for poop and the other for pee. If you scoop once a day, try upping it to twice or three times; just make it your routine... maybe that'll be enough. Some cats are just fastidious like that--most people refuse to use an unflushed toilet; and remember cats have to actually step into the litter box, and then later lick their feet! So it's understandable, if a bit annoying.

I've actually been quite vigiland about scooping out the poop each time one of my cats poops (and they have a couple of trays between them) but as I use the crystals that draw urine to the bottom of the tray, I can't scoop that stuff out and he gets touchy as soon as the crystals get even slightly yellow.

Sorry, that should have read "vigilant"!!!

Have you tried different types of litter other than crystal? Or an automatic box?