My cat won't use the litterbox

Hi, I am excited to find your site and hope you can help me. I have male cat that is fix and a older boy. I have had "velvet" for better than ten years. Velvet refuses to use the kitty box or go outside to relieve himself. His choice of areas is in my bedroom on the carpet and has been doing this everyday since I got him. The previous owner had the same problem with him. She had him check out by a vet and his recomondation was to put him on a mild dose of "prozac". I have rubbed his nose in it, mild swat in the hind, and put him outside.. The front door will be open and he would run upstairs and poop and\ then run outside. I am at the point to where I might put him down. I even thought of a shock collar to keep him out of my room.I have two other cats in the apartment and they have lived together for ten years. I am to old to be on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpet everyday. When I verbal him, I swear it is almost like he knows what am saying. I feel sorry for him. Can you please help?

Ok, there are a few issues here. One, cats don't respond to discipline. Hitting him, scolding him, or putting his nose in it will never work and will only make him afraid of you; you may be exacerbating the issue because he is now so stressed. Please do not do these things. He is not peeing to be bad, but because something is wrong.

Now you, as his owner, can help figure out what is his issue is. How many litter boxes do you have? The ideal is one per cat and one extra. How often do you clean them? Some cats are very picky about a clean box.

Anywhere he has peed you need to use an enzyme cleaner. This will completely remove the smell. Can you just leave the door to your bedroom shut?

Are all of your cats fixed?

Your first stop should be the vet to check for a medical issue. It is very likely that there is an underlying cause, like uti. Any maybe you could talk to your vet about Prozac. Is there a reason you haven't gone this route?

As you can see, there is a lot to try. Please keep us posted.

We also have a really excellent article that covers a lot of bases.. have a look through it and see if there are any changes you can make:

 [article="32366"]How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats The Ultimate Guide​[/article]  

Talking Peanut is right.. honestly, any kind of negative reinforcement in cats is incredibly counterproductive and could exacerbate the situation. 

 [article="29678"]Cats And Discipline Dont Mix​[/article]  

Do let us know if anything helps...

I have borrowed books from the library and learned that cats to not understand displine and I stopped the light swatting and the verbal discipline. He knows when he is wrong and yes I believe he is stressed behind this whole thing. I have three cat boxes is the lower part of my unit and clean them twice a day. There is nothing worse than a dirty kitty box in the kitchen/dinning area. The previous owner had passed away and that is how I ended up with him. She never started the prozac on him. I am financially strapped due to a nasty divorce and cannot afford to bring him to a vet. I do plan on bringing him in when I have the funds. He has the world outside and clean cat boxes down stairs, why does he choose my bedroom. He will run up and pee or poop then run outside in excitement. I am thankful there are cleaning agents that will take the smell out. Thank you

Have you tried Moving the litterbox to where he is actually going to the bathroom?

Have you tried closing your door?

If I were you I would start putting some money aside to take him to the vet and get him on Prozac. It's a very affordable drug, and surely better than putting an otherwise healthy cat to sleep.

Hi Talkingpeanut,
Thank you for your input on Velvet's behavior. After reading all the possibilities on why he cant and wont use the cat box, I like the idea of "PROZAC". Buying a shock collar or having him put to sleep takes money as well.Yes, I am going to starting putting money aside. I wish it could be simple like closing the door, but living in a townhouse apartment and having two other cats it would be impossible. Just last night I laid out cardboard along all the walls/carpet. This morning I woke up to a big wet puddle NEXT to the cardboard. I love my kitty's for they ARE my furry children. So, PROZAC here we come!

Yes when I first moved here 8 months ago I moved the cat boxes up here for about a week. Again, no sucess.. That was one of the first things I did was bring the boxes up here. 

I had no idea there was hope to get that smell out of the carpet. I moved here 8 months ago and the carpet was brand new. That was half my frustration thinking I ruined the carpet and floor.  GREAT!

Please don't put him to sleep. Not for this reason. Have you tried litter attract cat litter? Also when all else failed in the past I have put bowls of food where they have peed or pooped. If it's truly a behavioral problem and not any health issue they won't pee or poop where there is a bowl of food. I would also soak the past soiled areas with enzyme cleaner to get the smell out.

When I went to the library and borrowed a book, the first five pages taught me so much. In this one book the writer said, "never hit a cat"!  Boy, I felt the force in his voice even though it was on paper. I never hit or hurt but used forceful vocals. Now I look at the big picture even forceful words wont gain anything positive. I am going to check out the books. I really appricate all the help this site has given Velvet and myself.

This problem takes a lot of love and patience. I've been there....

I will never put him down or abandon him. I promised his previous owner, an elderly woman who had dementia that when she was gone, I would take  care off Velvet. I remember how she looked into  my eyes and  said, "really"?  I kept my word and that was ten years ago. 

I took in a 14 year old cat who had litterbox problems. He was my mother in law's cat and she passed away in November of 2014.

Taking him to the vet may not be as expensive as you think. I took my kitty to the vet for this issue. The vet charged me $25 to examine the cat and then prescribed Buspirone, an anti-anxiety drug. The medication costed only $5 for a month's supply! My kitty got back to using the litterbox after getting on the meds. He stayed on them for awhile and then weaned off. He's still doing well.

Wow great!!!

I have no intention to put velvet to sleep. I will get on my hands and knees and scrub for the rest of my life but putting Velvet down is not a option.  I cannot lock him in a different room because all three cat sleep on my bed with me. All the kitty box's are downstairs and they do most of there business at night. Locking him out of my bedroom would be impossible. As I have said, 0 income, dead beat ex-husband. I give up on social security. You have to fight Social Security for two years.....60 yrs old, LOOK OUT world I am going back to work. But all of you, thank you. I have learned so much at THE CATSITE. Velvet is much happier because you all enlightened me on  discipiling

When I first brought Gracie in our house, she had never used a litter box before, the world was her litter box. The first night we had her inside and she used it. It was probably around three weeks before she used it again. Turns out, she wasn't comfortable were the litter box was. We had it in the open and near her food and water dish, a kitty will NEVER use a litter box, unless,1, it is in a comfortable location,out of site and away from loud noises, and her food. And number 2, it might be that she doesn't feel comfortable using a litter box with the other cats.a solution for this could be to have multiple litter boxes, each in a quite location, and with plenty if privacy.
I hope that this information helped! And it might take several weeks before she feels comfortable, so dont loose hope!