Occasional pooping on the carpet, help?

My cat is nine years old, and has lived in this house since he was six weeks old. He is fully litter trained and is a loved family pet.
The only problem is that every now and then, instead of pooping in his litter box, he poops on the carpets. It's usually in the early morning just before or after my dad wakes up, and it really makes my dad mad.
He still pees in the litter box and most of the time he poops in the litter box too. There's nothing changed about our house, and he doesn't seem to be uncomfortable about something.

We just want our cat to be okay again, we all love him and we don't want to have to see him go because he keeps soiling the carpet.

Any help please?

The main reason cats will pee or poop outside of the box is because of a medical problem. It may just be he's constipated or something, but if it hurts to go poop in the box, sometimes they associate the box as being the problem, so they'll poop outside the box. The first thing to do is to get him to a vet.

Also, cats are weird, and even though he's always been using the one box, you never know. He may have become picky about smell, so try adding a second litter box. Sometimes this will do the trick.

You may also want to consider purchasing or asking your dad to purchase this product: http://www.entirelypets.com/catattract.html It is called "Cat Attract." It comes as a litter and and additive. The litter has problems clumping and is pretty expensive, and we've had a really good experience just sprinkling a layer of the additive over the top of the litter we currently use. You don't have to follow the instructions to make it work, it seems to work pertty well using less than they recommend.

Good luck!

Laurie

It could be a medical issue - but I wonder if, especially as it's an occassional problem - it's the case that the litter tray isn't clean enough for him?

I suggest stepping up your scooping/changing cycle - maybe make sure that the tray is scooped before going to bed.

The other thing, at 9 a cat is technically senior and may well start to have the problems associated with age. A trip to the vet just to make sure things are normal is a good idea at this stage, especially give that there is a problem.