Clean freak or something wrong?

So one of my cats would rather poo in the corner of the room instead of using his litter box. He'll pee in there just fine (I think), but if the box has been used, or just a tad stinky he'll poo on the carpet, pretty consistently on one spot. Currently he has two boxes, or I just have three boxes out for two cats and they seem to use whatever suits them at the moment.

So is he just overly cleanly, or is it something I should get checked out? Seems like if I put just a handful of litter in the box and dump it out every time he uses it and replace it with fresh litter I can get him to use the box regularly which suggests to me that it's just him, but wanted to get a second opinion. Kinda makes it rough since I have to resort to locking him up in the bathroom while I'm out and he doesn't seem to like that too much, he starts to yowl pretty loud.

My cat does not like her own poo either
She uses the box everytime but lets me know when she
did a #2 so I can scoop it out.

Originally Posted by Ms.Blackie

My cat does not like her own poo either

She uses the box everytime but lets me know when she
did a #2 so I can scoop it out.

Click to expand...

How thoughtful of her! I wish mine would do that before he'd soil the carpet for the hundredth time.

Maybe it's a male cat thing

I have an older (16 year old) cat who suddenly decided that she wanted a clean litter box EVERYTIME. She does have idiopathic bladder irritation that she is on a supplement for, but other than that, I have no idea where the change in behavoir came from. I finally got an automatic litter box (because we have 4 cats) called the Litter Robot, and now she only has an "accident" if she goes in immediately after one of the other cats and the box is "dirty", or if someone else is in the box when she wants to use it. I do have other "emergency" boxes around the house, but she will only use a litterbox that is in our bathroom, unless she is locked up with another one (that is clean).

The only other thing I can think of is that maybe he has or had painful bm's, and is associating it with the box? Maybe a question for your vet .