Went Potty in the house

I have had my cat for going on 3 years, and he has always been great about using his litter box, as in never once had an accident. Well we recently moved 2 weeks ago, and it was his first move. I put his box in the basement, and showed him where it was a few times throughout the first day. He has had no problem the past 2 weeks finding it.

Well I came home on my lunch today and he went the bathroom in the house, both urinating and pooping. I would understand if he didnt know where his box was, but its been 2 weeks, and hes used it plenty of times in those 2 weeks. What could be the reason for the accident? I am panicked now that hes gone the bathroom on the rug by that area, but cant tell for sure. If I buy the stuff at the pet store specifically for carpet cleaning where a cat went, is he likely to go there again?! Please say no, we just got this new carpet in and I do not want to cut it up

You need an enzymatic cleaner to effectively clean it. Nothing with ammonia obviously. Cheapest and IMO most effective way to clean cat urine in the carpet is white vinegar. But you have to deal with the vinegar smell for awhile. I just used fans and opened windows and in a day or two the vinegar smell was gone and left no trace of urine behind.

I would also have him seen by a vet and checked for a Urinary Tract Infection. They are more common in males and stress often brings them on.

For the carpet Nature's Miracle to get the stains out! It works and it's very unlikely he will go to the same spot a 2nd time

How many floors in your new house? Could it be that because the box is in the basement he couldn't make it down there on time? Maybe he was all the way up stairs, started going down and couldn't hold it in. Just a thought.

Consider adding another box on each floor so that it is easily accessible to him. Or move the box from to the basement to another floor. Could be he doesn't like it in the basement.


He could also be stressed from the move. Cats hate change and he might still be adjusting. Still taking him to the vet to make sure he's ok is a good idea.