Cat pooping outside litterbox- spite?

Yes, tried feeding them at the same time. Didn't work. The problem has now escalated beyond the times when he is locked downstairs. He did it yesterday during the day and again just now between 6 and 8am. We tried switching one litter to unscented, doesn't seem to help.

As Ondine mentioned, let's go back to the start.

Cats typically go outside of the litter box for several reasons:

1. They don't like something about the litterbox. The location, smell, size, litter type, etc.

2. They are sick. UT/GI/neuro problems. Associating pain or stress with the cat box or a location will have them searching for new places.

3. Territory marking. Being neutered and with no other cats in the house... probably not your issue.

4. Dominance. I'm the boss! Look at my poop! Look at it!

You mentioned that you were cleaning with bleach products. Have you tried anything else, like vinegar?

You already know not to mix bleach with ammonia. But did you know that the main component of cat tinkle is uric acid? When cat pee starts breaking down it changes into urea and ammonia. It's one of the reasons why cat pee smells so bad. I'm guessing it's probably not concentrated enough to hurt you when mixed with bleach... but consider that even bleach by itself has a very strong (not to mention toxic) odor. Kitty may have an aversion to whatever you are using to clean up and now he's avoiding those spots. 

Honestly though, I would consult with or get him to the vet to make sure he's not sick.

All we can do here is keep guessing...

I'll give vinegar a shot. I don't think the cleaner is the issue, because he generally goes in the same place (almost exactly the same tiles.) The litter boxes are about 4ft apart (across from each other) and he generally goes within 1-2 ft of the box on the left. I tried putting the box on the tile where he goes, and he pooped where the box USED to be.

Cats typically go outside of the litter box for several reasons:

1. They don't like something about the litterbox. The location, smell, size, litter type, etc. The location doesn't seem to be an issue, because he's still in the same room, only a few feet away. The box is quite large and roomy, he's only 6 months old and has more than ample space inside. We need to keep a covered box because of the dog. I thought maybe he didn't like the smell of the litter (it's not particularly strong smelling but does have a scent. Sam's Club store brand clumping.) So I tried getting an unscented scooping litter (this time, a walmart brand) and put out a box of each to let him choose. He pees in both, though I know sometimes cats will tolerate a litter box they dont like long enough to pee, but not poop. Otherwise, new litter doesn't seem to matter much. There can't be a stresser in the room, because he still goes there.

2. They are sick. UT/GI/neuro problems. Associating pain or stress with the cat box or a location will have them searching for new places. He does poop in the boxes as well, we can't find a link between when he does and doesn't anymore. I honestly don't think he's sick. He acts very normal, normal pooping. Huge appetite. Was wormed and checked for worms at our own vet follow up.

3. Territory marking. Being neutered and with no other cats in the house... probably not your issue. Agreed. He's not very territorial towards the dog either. I would have thought territory marking would be peeing. Thankfully ALL peeing takes place in the box.

4. Dominance. I'm the boss! Look at my poop! Look at it! Cats do that? What would dominant behavior in a cat look like other than this?  What would a solution to this be?

Yes, they do. But typically it's another situation where it's more prevalent when other cats are around.

Do you have ferals/strays that hang around outside?

Knock on wood, i THINK we might have figured it out. While my husband was cleaning the boxes two nights ago,  he had the lids off- and simon came in and pooped in the uncovered box right in front of him. My husband said he stood up very tall while doing his thing... and that he might not be able to do that inside the box with the lid on it. So I bought a rubbermaid storage bin with a similar-sized footprint as his litterbox. It has high enough sides that the dog can't get into it (dog is the reason we needed a covered box.) I didn't bother with the lid, he can just jump over and in. (he demonstrated his ability to get in it immediately when I brought it into the house. This morning, the litter was disturbed, but I didn't investigate close enough to see what was in the box- poop or pee. I suspect pee, but I'm not surprised, as he pooped on the floor yesterday and generally doesnt go more than once a day. We'll see tonight. Fingers crossed!

To my knowledge, he's never seen another cat outside. I've never seen one myself close enough to the house for him to see it.  It's a pretty typical suburban neighborhood with houses on about 1/3 acre lots. I live in Massachusetts, and stray pet populations, especially in the smaller towns, are nearly non-existent.... And I hardly even know anyone that lets their own cat outside. Coyotes pretty much guarantee those animals don't last long.

Stray dogs are even harder to come by- almost all the puppies in local shelters are shipped in from southern states with high populations in kill shelters. Off hand I can't even name any shelter in my area that's not entirely no-kill (except in cases of illness or extreme aggression.)

Was this issue resolved? I have a similar problem and might start a new thread about it. 

M megan31 no, the issue was never resolved. Lol we kind of gave up. We just accepted the problem and moved the litterbox to the furnace room further away from living space. Anytime we find a "floor sh!t" we grab some TP and flush it. The litter boxes are easy to keep clean now lol. Sorry I can't help.

Aw, I'm sorry to hear that! Well, I learned a lot from this forum already, so maybe with all that advice I'll figure something out. I already know from his vet appointment last week that he has really bad teeth, so he's going to the vet to get some pulled in two weeks. I'm also going to try Feliway diffusers and see if that makes a difference. 

He's different from your cat because he poops in the bathroom sink when it isn't filled with water. (So I constantly have to keep water in it.) I bought a rug and had it out for about a week, and he decided to poop on that this Friday night and also this morning. So I put that away in hopes that I can get it out again once I figure out what the problem is.

Huh.... Yeah, Simon always poops on the floor right next to the litterbox. He doesn't go around the house or anywhere else, so because it's in the boiler room we just deal with it. We don't lock him up or anything any more- this post was from when he was a 6m old kitten and he's now almost 2. He's on a different diet too- he eats canned food mostly supplemented with dry so he and the dog eat at the same time (he's still very food driven though). Cats that poop in weird places (like sinks or bathtubs etc) can sometimes be indicative of a health problem because they associate the litter box with something unpleasant (could he be constipated or anything?)

I don't know if he's constipated. A couple months ago one of them had blood in their feces, but that seemed to go away. I will mention this to the vet when he goes in for his teeth, and bring in a stool sample. I haven't told them about his weird bathroom habits yet because I figured it was a behavioral thing, but I'll definitely explore that further.

Do you have multiple litter boxes? The best way to know is one more box than you have cats (2 for 1 cat, 3 for 2 cats, etc) I discussed it with my vet and they said there was very little they could suggest outside of what I tried- different litters (scooping, non scooping, scented, unscented), different boxes (covered, uncovered, now we use a big Rubbermaid bin with no lid), cleaning it daily, not cleaning daily, etc. but floor poops are always within a foot or two of the box. They make a litter that is supposed to attract cats- google cat attract by precious litters. Good luck!

Despite all the back and forth here about bleach and ammonia, I think you might have better success if you stop using the homemade cleaners and buy a good enzyme cleaner specially designed to destroy pet odors. They are not expensive and contain several components you're not currently using, including peroxide, enzymes that destroy the pheromone, and scents that deter the cat from returning to that spot. 

It's got nothing to do with cleaners or smells or lack there of. He just doesn't like crapping in the litterbox. We've moved the box to different rooms, on different floors and he follows it there and craps on the floor beside it. He'll use a clean box once, and the refuses to crap in it again. He's just a messed up cat.

LOL that doesn't sound behavioral... it sounds more like a stuck dingleberry! That happens from time to time, is it usually just one small "nugget"? Is your cat long haired? It's happened to both of mine (and my dog), and both of my cats are short haired. I don't know what the solution is to it- perhaps someone else can weigh in on what dietary need might be not met. (Is the cat constipated and getting stuck? Or perhaps the opposite and getting messy?) But that sounds like a clinger. They fall off eventually, where  ever the cat happens to be.

Is it a full-size poop though? I don't know how they could have the control to just leave a little bit... The only other thing I can think of is that the cat is constipated and it hurts to go, and cats are notorious for associating pain with elimination with the litter box (thinking it's being in the box that's hurting them) and he could be avoiding the box and is only able to pinch out nuggets here and there. How do the poops outside of the box compare to the poops inside the box?

Hey, I feel your pain. My cat craps on the floor next to his litter box every day, and he's going to be 3. We've just accepted that his looks are his best feature.

I'm a firm believer that some cats do get angry at their owners and will act up to show their displeasure.. For lack of a better word they are capable of "spite". Just recently my cat interrupted my daily workout when he jumped on the kitchen table. I naturally yelled NO! GET OFF! and chased him off. He was quite startled and noticably upset with me. Anyway I continued with my squats when I smelled something unpleasant. I turned around and witnessed with horror that he had pooped on the floor right behind me and proceeded to drag his filthy little bum across the floor. To me that was a big fat FU. Not only did He defecate on my floor He rubbed it in.
He is a healthy cat who gets lots of love and has his litter box cleaned daily, he doesn't have fleas and is not uncomfortable and itchy, we haven't changed anything in his routine so before anyone makes that suggestion, that's not the case. He uses his litter box like normal everyday. He was just clearly pissed off at me and was feeling insecure. I suspect it is somewhat of a territorial thing as my bf and I only adopted this cat and another cat, a female who never gets into trouble (they were to be adopted together as they were found together) about a month ago. So he may not feel fully established. But it definitely has something to do with being upset and feeling insecure
The only other time something like this happened was a similar situation.. I chased off the table just before my bf and I went grocery shopping, we came home to a soaking wet bed and a big turd on top of the blanket (on my side of course). I wasn't sure which cat did it but I suspected it was him... Now I know it was him. The bedroom is now off limits.
Cats are smart.. They know what they're doing. I've had cats all my life.. Many cats. Mind you they didn't all exhibit this sort of behaviour but I have seen it in a few. Can't really tell you what the solution is though. They usually just grew out of it once their boundries were firmly established.