Potty Problems

I have a kitten about 6 months old and have had him and his brother for almost four months. He likes to pee and poop everywhere EXCEPT in the litter boxes.

It doesn't matter if the boxes are a mess, or if they have new fresh litter. Nor does it matter what kind of litter we use, (we've tried them all).

He insists on peeing and pooping in the bathroom outside the litterboxes, or in corners of various rooms in the house.

At his check-up the vet said he's just fine.

Any suggestions?? Because if this problem persists we'll have to get rid of him since we are expecting a new baby soon and can't have that happening.

His brother and the other cats in the house have no problems using their boxes.

I love him and he's a sweetheart , I'm just so frustrated that he goes everywhere BUT in a box.

How many boxes do you have? Have you tried putting them in the places he's gone before? What do you use to clean the spots afterwards?

i have 5 cats and 5 boxes. if i put one where he is pooping, he will procede to stand a few feet away from it and poop there.

to clean it up i use oxyclean (to bring my carpet to normal color) and then blot with a small amount of bleach so it will be un-inticing.

but he won't give in and use a box .... at times he will pee in a box, and gets lots of praise for this, but will never poop in one.

I may be way off here, but doesn't bleach contain ammonia? If so, then it will entice the cat not discourage him. You need to get a special cleaner specifically made for cleaning pet urine smells.

Maybe he doesn't like the type of litter you use, have you tried different ones? How big are the trays you use? Are they in nice secluded places? Is he declawed? Many cats have problems after declaws as they associate pain with the litterbox

the bleach is normal laundry bleach.... i will check the stores for the specifically formulated products...

3 of the boxes are the kind that are deep with lids, and the other two are shallower without lids (so that they were able to get in and out when they were itty bitty!)

none of the cats are declawed (although the female is about to be if she doesn't lay-off my couch!) and they are all fixed.

we've been through all the brands and textures of litter we coulf find, from the pine scented woodchip type, to the fine sand grained. they seem to make no difference as he will occasionaly decide to pee in them regardless of the litter.

we've had this problem since we got him and his brother, we understood they were young and the older cats and us would have to teach them some manners. his brother got over it in a week, but this one seems too stubborn

::edit::
the boxes are in various places, one in the corner behind the tv, two in the bathroom, one in the stairwell, and one that's currently under a sink (we move it to wherever he seems to be going at the time)

Can you isolate him for a night? Put him in a spare room with a litter box and food, see if he uses it when he's alone?

Did the vet do a urine analysis? Is it possible he missed a UTI?

Sounds like you've been pretty thorough, hopefully someone else will be along to give advice as I have no better ideas!

Assume you're joking about declawing your female though, right?

the only effect being secluded has on him is constant yowling. if he's locked in our bedroom he cries because he wants his friends, if he's locked out he cries because he wants to curl up on bed. (he's never content! hehe). i'm thinking of finding him a home that has younger kids, but where he will be the only cat. that way he can still have all the play he craves, and maybe it will be easier for him to use a box without all the other scents? but i will miss him so much.

we made the vet run every test he could think of.. no luck.

sadly though, our female is getting very bad about the scratching. my couch arms are starting to look like raggidy anne's hair!! i'm not too worried about the couch itself, "have cats will scratch" but she's getting into scratching walls and curtians, towels hanging up, pretty much everything now. she also gets mad at those plastic claw covers and bites at herself until either they come off or she bleeds..... so if we can't get her to stop its no more claws for her. (all 5 are strictly indoors, and she scratches the posts and designated scratching area's just as much as my house)

Thank You for the support and concern!

I think you just answered my question...I adopted an 8 y/0 cat which much to my horror had been declawed (I do NOT believe in doing this to a cat!!) DJ is her name and she will use anything but the CLEAN litter box I provide for her and my 10 other cats....I wasn't sure if it was a social issue or not..but I bet it's because she is declawed. I just put done a newspaper where DJ like to do her business. At my house, unfortunately, the cats rule!!!