More litterbox woes

I'm new to the forum (came here in desperation) but I have read many of the litterbox posts. Many if not most of them have to do with cats peeing (and marking) outside their boxes. We have an 8-month-old ragdoll kitten who has ceased using his box, pee and poop. To my untrained eye, it does not seem to be a marking problem.

Here's more background:
I have had pets (cats and dogs) all my life. Last Christmas our beautiful 14-year-old Persian died very quickly from cancer. It was a real blow. In January we got a Ragdoll kitten, male flamepoint,
very pretty, named Laser. Well, he has never been bulletproof with his box. He would go in it maybe 70% of the time, but the rest of the time he was dying to get into the basement and do his business there. ((( Finally we locked the basement for good. And I moved his box into my office so I could keep close tabs on the situation (I did this several months ago). Lately he has been peeing and pooping right *next to* his box. He has also peed on our sofa!! ((( Help!! I have not heard of a cat doing this and I don't understand what his problem could possibly be. I keep the litter
scrupulously clean and we have not changed the brand. He is an indoor, neutered (last April) kitty. This is *NOT* good.

My parents think he is unhappy and wants to live elsewhere...though he has affection, toys, attention, food and water....My take is that he has a screw loose somewhere. My husband is incredibly fed up with this. Please advise!!

P.S. We have an 8-year-old boy who is devoted to Laser, a one-year-old toddler who admittedly is rough with him (we try to keep the two fo them apart but the cat keeps going back to him again and again, we're left to conclude the cat likes him!) and a siberian husky whom the kitten has been best friends with since the day he arrived. They sleep together, etc. The thing that upsets me is that there does not seem to be anything *new* in the environment that would cause this stress for him. HELP!!! Thanks!
I'm desperate!! thanks!

First of all, welcome to TCS! We have some great people on here that have helped many people who have been in your shoes (including myself).

How many boxes do you have? I know when I had this problem with Tiki I found that I didn't have enough boxes. Once I added a couple more through out the house, our problems had stopped. Another thing is that the box or boxes that you have may not be what he likes. Hissy suggested to me to use a Rubbermaid sweater box (the kind that goes underneath your bed) for the litter box. It's much bigger and it sits low to the floor.

As for the peeing issue, you should first rule out any health problems by visiting the Vet. Many times a cat can have a urinary tract or bladder infection and you don't even know it since cats are very good at hiding their pain.
Have you tried any citrus sprays on your furniture? Cat usually don't like the smell of citrus and will avoid it at all costs. You can usually get some strong citrus spray at Walmart or any store like that. The one I used was called Ultra Citrus and it's very STRONG!

Hope that this may help you some and wishing you the best of luck during this frustrating time!

Many cats prefer two boxes one for solids and the other for pee. Have the kitty checked by a vet for a UTI. There is a lot of advice on this subject! Check this>

Try reading this link as well.