outside the box peeing--how to regain trust?

Hi,
I have two one year old kitties--Blossom and Billy. Blossom is a dream--plays cute, sleeps cute, is affectionate and charming. Billy is a little different--he plays hard and is a little tighter with his affections than his sister--but we have some pretty good petting sessions when he is in the mood. He is always looking for something to do and something to get into.

The other morning--5:30am-- I heard some very insistent scratching and went to investigate. They both like to rub their paws on the sides of covered litterboxes after they get done (makes them feel clean, I guess), and this scratching sounded just like one of them was finishing up in the litterbox. Except neither of them were in the litterbox! Billy was in the play box, in the space just outside from the litterbox room. I keep an old sheet in there with their toys--sometimes they like to sleep in there or they will pull out toys to play with. Billy was pawing at the sheet like it was litter and when he jumped out I did a quick test--yep, he had peed in the box! My mind was going a mile a minute "why? Is he sick? he seems healthy. Why would he pee there?"

I threw the box and sheet and all the toys out quick, no urine got on the carpet. When I checked their litterboxes, I realized that I had simply forgotten to clean them out, and they were not cat-clean. Obviously, he was looking a clean acceptable substitute for his box, and the closest thing was the playbox.

I'm cleaning the boxes out twice a day now--they are using them just fine--and keeping a careful eye on them.

This incident got me wondering about those out there that do have serious elimination problems with their cats. How have others built up that trust again with their little ones?

I went through this once with sakura but it was because of an old roomate that started it all. After he moved out and I understood what was going on when i wasnt home, it took me a long time to trust her.
For a while if I couldnt watch her then I would put her in her room. I hated doing this because she is so needy but it was for her own good. She's alot better now, she hasnt peed out of the litter box since febuary. She hasnt been locked in her room since the begining of march. Im very happy but i still get nervous when i buy something new (new furniture, new rugs, even the kitty condo that i bought this week). I think I might still have these thoughts for a long time. But i trust her more with each time she proves me wrong.

I wish you the best on your road to trusting your cats again. Goodluck!

You bring up a good point...the trust factor has to be there, but the cat has to demonstrate that she's using her box again.

Confinement is never a happy time for owner and kitty, but it does work. The cat has access to her food, water, toys, and litter box, and the damage she can do is limited to one room.

When the kitty shows she's using her litter box consistently while confined, then you can let her out for supervised outings. If she still doesn't "get it," she needs more confinement. This does work.

I would suggest also using the Feliway Plug in modules when introducing something new to the home - furniture, carpeting, roommates, new family members, etc. Feliway works well for most cats.

Cheers,