won't use litter box

Hi everyone,
I'm new here, and hoping for some help and insight.
We have a 3 year old boy cat, BB, and his sister, Tippy. They were rescued from the street as 6 week old kittens. BB has had his share of emotional troubles, and is very needy of contact, which makes this situation really sad.

He has, several times over the last few years, sprayed and pooped in various places in our house. The bed, carpets - anywhere he wanted. We moved into a new house last year and the problem increased. For the last few months, he and Tippy have been staying on our enclosed patio, with lots of outside access.

However, recently BB has been eliminating everywhere on the patio except his litter box. He is happiest when he is outside, so my husband advocates making him an outdoor cat. I grew up with outdoor cats, and there are many in our area, but still this makes me nervous.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do? We'd love to have both of them come inside but really can't keep an eye on them constantly as we have to do that with our toddler!

Thanks for your help. This is making me so very sad -

April

April - there is a sticky at the top of this forum that may hold some insight for you. It has to be disheartening to have BB contuinue this behavior. I will watch for other replies so see if you can get some help with this problem. Give them both a pet from me - I bet they are cute little fur balls!

There are so many causes for this kind of behavior. The first would be that he does not like his litter or it needs to be cleaned a little more. He may not like sharing the litter box either. You can try adding another box or gradually change the litter.
The second that's coming to mind is that he is a territorial male. It is his way of telling the world that it is his turf. He may have seen cats outdoors in the old house and now he can really see and hear other cats in the area. If that's the case, You can try using the feliway spray. It is meant to help make his enviroment smell like the friendly marks that cats make with their cheeks. You can also try using some Dr bachs rescue remedy in their drinking water. Just make sure that he is drinking the water. You can also put it right under the tongue. That you can find at any GNC type store.
Has he been to the vet for checkup? Have you mentioned it to the vet at all? It may be something medical thats making him behave this way. I would also use the link at the top of the page. It has some very good things there as well. The other place you can try is www.catsinternational.org

Thanks for your help! I did read some info in the sticky and am going to try getting 2 new boxes, different litters, and moving the boxes.

I'm curious though - what is dr. bachs? I keep reading about it but have never heard of it before today? Also - do you know where I can get the feliway spray? Is it pretty readily available?

Dr Bachs is an all natural relaxer. People use it all the time. It works in most cats the same way. I use it for travel or if I have a cranky kitty
The Feliway you can get from most vets or you can look at www.drsfostersmith.com www.kvvet.com or www.jefferspet.com

Is BB neutered?