How clean is his box?

We check his box every couple of hours and keep it as clean as possible. We dumped out the old litter and replaced it completely last week, and plan to do this every 2 weeks.

Is the box big enough for him? Maybe he doesnt feel comfortable going poop in the box if he cant easily move around in it.

Well, presumably the box wasn't too small when the previous owners had it. I've left the lid on and will see if that's what they did as well or if they took the lid off.

My parents had had a cat that would go right outside the box, but stopped doing that once they switched to scoopable litter (they'd been using the clay-type litter, as the scoopable sand-type had just come out). Try switching the litter even though it's the one they were using and see if it helps (is it scented? Maybe try unscented).

Good luck.. I have a cat who poops out of the box and has for years. She lived in the carriage house for awhile this summer, and then to the furnace room and is now in the whole house but still has relapses. Very frustrating , and I haven't yet figured out what makes her tick after 15 years.

Where exactly is his doing the pooping? Is it near the box but not in it?

Try adding a 2nd box next to the first with scoopable litter in it. Many cats "dig" (sorry, a pun) scoopable litter more than clay litter. Also, make sure it is a large, roomy uncovered box.

My neighbor had this problem as well --- if you could see the dinky little covered box with about 1 inch of litter in it she has -- you would know why. Plus she only scoops once a week (yuck).

Make sure the litter is deep enough. I know they kick it all over but I still think cats don't like to be scratching the bottom of the box when they cover their waste.

Thanks for your replies. I'm not really clear on the subtleties of the different kinds of litter, but what the previous owner used was Swheat and now we're trying an inexpensive kind from PetSmart. I think it's scoopable and unscented. He does like to dig and we've got the litter pretty deep.

He doesn't poop near the box. The box is in the hall bathroom and he's pooped in bedrooms & the master bath.

Yesterday a friend suggested confining him with his box and food in one room for a while and then gradually introducing him to the rest of the house, one room at a time. So last night I kept him in the bathroom overnight (6 hours) and have closed all doors upstairs except the bathroom and my son's bedroom, where he and I are now. I'll keep him to just these 2 rooms for a bit and see how that goes.

Ann

Our cat Jack had this problem, too, but his poop had a lot of mucus in it. Our vet said that he had colitis (irritated colon) and switched him to prescription low-residue food. He thought that our cat had probably associated his litterbox with the discomfort he felt when pooping, thus the reason for avoiding it. The new food was better for him, and we didn't have trouble with him going outside the box anymore, as long as we kept him on the prescription food.

Once Jack was healthy, the vet said that we could try gradually switching him back to his regular food (we had two cats, so feeding them different foods was inconvenient), but the same issues would reoccur. So (gross as it may be!) before you take him to the vet, take a good look at his poop for mucus, blood or anything else unusual so you will be ready if your vet asks you about it.

Your friend was right.Shutting him up a few days (while it may seem mean) in a small space with his litter box might help.Hopefully he will get used to using it and the problem will stop.

P.s. You said the poop was neever NEAR the litter box.I assumed it was when I posted an answer.
Is it possible it is getting stuck to his butt and it is being dragged somewhere else? Even on short hair cats this can happen.
If he isnt getting enough water and the poop is hard (sorry to be so graphic!) they can have a hard time getting it out.
My cat has had this happen a few times before.