Cat abandoned litter box???

Seeking help here...

One of my cats (i have 2) has recently, within the past month, decided hed like to begin peeing on the rug. We think this is originally due to a cat being outside, and he wanted to show outside cat whos boss......... But it hasnt stopped. 

Ive cleaned that area of the rug (as well as a larger surrounding area) with natures miracle... saturated and then blotted as described. 

Since its somewhere we cant keep the cats from, we bought some pee pads intended for puppies to put over the spot, in case he tried to go there again. Well..... this is where hes been going basically ever since.

I was able to start a routine of me going with him to the litterbox, him going, and i would praise him vocally during and give him treats when he was done.... I know this sounds dumb but I figured id rather have to "take him outside" like you would a dog rather than have him keep going outside the box. I thought maybe he was unusual and didnt like to do his thing without people around anymore...

For the past week though, he hasnt used the box at all. I cant coax him into coming with me to it. Ive even made a "litterbox" with a pee pad as the "litter", with cat attract sprinkled on top of that pee pad. he checked it out but has yet to use it - this is only around the corner from his current, non litterbox pee pads. 

Up until this past monday he had been still pooing in the litter... that stopped. On monday he did both at once and i was hoping that was why... but today he did both things but 3 hours apart, on the pee pad. (new ones each time). 

All this happened about literally 5 feet away from a feliway diffuser... and for the past 2 weeks hes also had a sentry calming collar on... and ive been putting catnip everywhere, couch, chair, toys on the carpet close to, but not directly where, hes been going.... been also backing up the diffuser with the spray, on the couch, chair, rest of the rug, etc.

He doesnt seem to care.... 

The amounts and colours that he is producing are both proper/normal for him. Ive seen him with crystals in the past (like 9 years ago) and i know that small amount, and that pain i saw... cant mistake that. plus if it was pain, would he not continue to find different new spots, rather than having one consistent new spot?? This combined with him acting completely normal otherwise makes me doubt anything medical is going on. If he were infected or something he would be *very* sick by now as we have been doing this for over a month with the mostly pee pads... 

You may be thinking just keep using the pee pads, but its in the middle of our living room... i dont care about buying and replacing pee pads, if we can move it somewhere not in the middle of the house... but im afraid to try not having a pee pad there cuz then ill just have a carpet to clean again... cats by nature like to bury and theres nothing to bury with, with a pee pad. i dont get that either...

I just dont get the, for the most part consistent litterbox usage, except a few incidents, for the roughly 10 years of his life so far, and now for him to completely abandon it.... i hadnt changed location, litter types, didnt start cleaning it less... .its all the same. ive been experimenting now with a softer litter, but if i cant even get him to step foot inside, he cant feel the difference. (i cant pick him up to put him in it, he hates being picked up, and that *will* make him afraid of the box.). 

Anyone have any suggestions, at all? 

I really would rule out a UTI.  Cats are so good at hiding pain, and it can be chronic.

Once you really know that's not the case, I wonder what would happen if you just rolled up the rug and put it aside for a while?

We also have an Ultimate Guide to these types of problems you may like to peruse.

I really don't get it. Today again, peed on the pad, but pooped in the litterbox.. Not sure in which order or whatever, but it happened. I don't know how to retrain him to pee in the liter when it was just instinct before, never taught.

He shows no interest in a litterbox near his current box but with a pee pad as the litter... Even with cat attract sprinkled on it... He's checked it out but never used it... Brand new box too

As Mani said, see the vet first.  This sounds like a health problem with assc pain involving the box.  If not try taking a way the rug & putting a litter box in it's place.  Later you can slowly move it but at least he would be using the box.

I think if it were pain tho, he wouldnt be consistently using the same pee pad in the same spot, it would keep hurting and he would keep looking for new different spots. Been there, seen that before. 

its more of a nasty habit we need to break and arent sure how to. 

Had another pee on the pad but poop in the box today... I just dont understand this cat. Later on today i almost had him coming with me to the litter (about half way), but the phone rang and once i had picked up the phone i was hoping he would still come with me but he didnt... he ended up eating first but then ultimately peeing on the pad. i was off the phone by then but i couldnt get him to re-come with me to the litter, i thought i was onto something with petting him first and then gently telling him to come with me, but it didnt work today... or at least, it didnt work again today within a 10 minute or so time frame. 

For a while i had a pee pad out too, near but not too close to his actual litterbox, hoping if he had taken a liking to the pads, he could use them but not in the middle of the living room. hes never showed any interest in that one, even with cat attract sprinkled on top... 

Has he been to the vet yet?

No... its not a vet issue, its a habit issue. hes been going in the same improper place this whole time, so there clearly is no pain involved. Ive seen him in pain (for both pee and poo), i know its not that. 

it *may* be that natures miracle isnt a miracle and that he can still smell himself on the carpet (despite saturating it like 4 or 5 times)... but he doesnt even seem to be smelling a whole lot before going... seems a habit more than anything