My cat is stressing me out.

Okay so my girlfriend and I got a new cat about a week ago and he was just fine. Perfectly happy, extremely playful, loved to explore. But starting 2 days ago I've noticed that he has been pooping on the floor right in front of his litter box. I stick his nose in it and tell him no knowing that works for a dog but this is my first cat so I don't know what to do. I heard cats will poop on the floor if their litter box isn't clean or if they don't have food or water which is never the case. He is a domestic short-hair, all black. He is about 5 months old and is neutered. I just don't know what the problem could be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sticking their nose in it doesn't actually work for any animal, cat or dog.  Unless they have medical condition where they are "leaking" and don't feel it, they know they pooped. The only thing you are doing is getting poop on the animal's nose, and that is just mean. Please don't do that again, how would you like to have that happen to you?

Other things that can cause a cat to poop right in front of the litter box is they are they don't like the litter (smell, texture, also if the cat is declawed most cat litter can hurt), or if the box is too small, or the cat could be hurt or sick. Depending on how high the sides are if the kitten has gotten hurt, trying to jump into the box can be painful. If sick jumping or stepping in to the box can cause the poop to fall out before getting into the box. Do you actually see him pooping outside the box or just find it? One of my cats I've had to make sure I have a high sided box since he likes to throw the litter when he is finished, which sometimes causing poop to get tossed out too for example. Or if the box is too small the cat might be in the box, but his butt is over the edge. I have also had some cats that will poop outside the box if I use one of these litter mats in front of the box, it gets litter on it and the cat seems to think that means it's an ok place to go.

Hi and welcome to TCS and congratulations on your new kitty [emoji]128049[/emoji]!

Cats are extremely particular about their litter box habits. Since he is pooping right near the litter box but not in it, my feeling is that he wants to and knows to go there but there is something about it that is preventing him from doing so. Is he using the litter box to pee in it? If so, that suggests to me that it's not an issue of the box being clean enough or an issue with the type of litter or box but it may be (and this is very common) that he prefers to poo and pee in separate boxes. My suggestion would be to add a second litter box to see if that solves the problem.
Here's a link to a TCS article about cats and litter box habits you might find helpful:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/16-expe...mmon-litterbox-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them

This is a link to a guide about litter boxes:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-litterbox-what-every-cat-owner-needs-to-know
You are right that rubbing a cats nose in the poo will not correct the behavior and could actually make this a bigger problem.
I'm sure others will chime in with thoughts and suggestions as well!

Good luck and again welcome [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Amethyst offered some really good ideas.

My first question is whether your have cleaned the cat box in the week you've had the cat.  If not, then I expect that is the problem.

I also agree that rubbing a kitten's (or puppy's) nose in poop is not the way to train.

I found some other great TCS article which may be of help to you since you are new to cats:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cat-behavior-for-beginners

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-discipline-dont-mix

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/care-of-cats-the-responsible-way

There are a ton of other articles on anything and everything "cat" in the Articles section of TCS in case you feel like exploring [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Having had dogs and cats, I can tell you that the nose rubbing thing definitely does not work. It just engenders fear in them and we don't want fearful pets. He obviously knows that he's supposed to poop in the box. If you continue to rub his nose in the poop, he may start associating fear with the potty box. So definitely don't do that anymore. I agree that he could be a cat that needs a box to pee in and one to poop in. Or he might not like the litter you are using. Cats are like kids... they are going to do things that could potentially stress you out. It's how you deal with that stress that makes the difference. Remember, you got your cat for companionship and he's not purposely trying to upset you. He's actually trying to tell you something. So when you get frustrated, try turning that frustration into trying to find an answer. Has the baby been to the vet yet to make sure everything is ok physically?