Have you tried putting litter attractant in the litter boxes? We use it. We also clean the two litter boxes twice a day. ?

Rising in popularity is the 'catio' a large enclosure on your patio meant for cats to temporarily enjoy the outdoors without the dangers of being an outdoor cat. They also sell heated cat houses one can put in the catio. Unless your winters are extremely cold, I can see such a combination as being quite comfy. There are blueprints for making catios, the storebought ones can be expensive if you go for the large ones.

Build very huge indoor catio in basement.

Boxes are cleaned every day, whenever they have been used. Complete change of litter when needed (normally it seems only three of six boxes are "favorites". Boxes are only used at night as the cats are outside during the day.

I did buy a spray that is suppose deter spraying and such in the same spots the cat used previously. I think it's working somewhat. I still have to do the "smell test" and search for a neatly raked pile of gravel. ha

mdln, before I posted this I was sitting in the library brainstorming and did think of closing off the one half of the cellar floor that is gravel. I didn't mention that there is an area that used to be used as a car garage and is cemented. Probably 16' X 6' or 8'. I was thinking of using fencing material nailed or stapled to wooden frames to create a wall to separate the areas. Currently the space is housing a carriage and a pony cart, plus my garden cart. Still room to squeeze cat beds (elevated on chairs to keep out of draft) and two or three litter boxes. The "wall" would be an inconvenience when access to the furnace is needed, but guess I could create a door of some type. Thinking of this.

Have you changed litter brands? Cats can be picky or you might have a cat with a problem. They will avoid a place where they have been uncomfortable. Bladder issues are a common reason and once they think a spot if "bad" it is hard to get them to use it again.

Buy some heavy duty plastic - the kind at the hardware store meant for such application, sturdy enough to mostly resist claws - or cheap sheet vinyl, or exercise matting if it is a small area, and cover the gravel. This would likely make the indoor space less prone to dampness, not more, unless you have water intruding, that needs to drain through the gravel.

Concrete basement floors nowadays have vapor barrier material between the concrete and the ground material precisely to stop dampness from rising from the ground, through the cement, and into the basement.

Also, try using plastic underbed storage boxes for the litter. This worked for one of my elderly cats - she started needing more room to maneuver and a shallower box.

I'd make sure the cat doesn't have an UTI, as that sometimes is the cause of litter box rejection. I had good luck using puppy pee pads (maybe they now make kitty pee pads?) outside the box for my cat, but she only peed outside the box and did poop in it.

You could also simply lay something like chicken wire loosely over the gravel. They won't walk on it.

If you do move the litter boxes, you might try Boundary cat spray in the area where the cats had been using the gravel (once you've cleaned best you can, of course). My neighbor found it pretty effective in solving her cat sharpening claws on an expensive carpet, and I used it on outdoor planters on my porch where a cat (probably hers ;0)) had begun spraying and 'marking territory'. It was not the cats territory, it was mine and I didn't have a cat.

Some peeing up against a wall, but mostly pooping in the gravel. I suspect the youngest, both males, hasn't really learned to use a litter box. He was a stray from the neighbors six years ago. This doesn't happen every single night, but enough to be very annoying and it isn't multiple times a night.

I have put down chicken wire and other such over areas in the cellar not covered by gravel, where there is just dirt. Small areas that are not flat. It works. But they need to walk on the graveled areas.

Thought about plastic tarps or the landscaping fabric. Wasn't sure about creating a mess underneath it. Will keep considering it as an option.

Someone told me about the vapor barrier that is put down now days under cement. It's just so darn expensive to do even a small area that I wonder if it is worth it in the long run. Will I always have cats down there? Maybe not if people stop dropping them off.

I've been re-thinking the indoor catio option. I wonder how difficult it would be to get the cats to go in? Again, do I want it to be permanent? Keeping them in a secure area seems to be the best idea,tho. I'm going to look at designs.

Landscaping fabric will allow any moisture from the urine or feces to seep through to the gravel so you don't want to use that. Moisture barrier is expensive - I just mentioned it because of your concern about a covering perhaps increasing dampness in cellar.

You can get sheet vinyl fairly inexpensively, especially if you look for remnants. But, the heavy duty plastic will work - extra benefit to it is that you can run it a foot or so up the wall and secure it with tape.

I wonder if it is worth it in the long run

A vapor barrier halps keep vapor out of your home which can help protect against mold and wood deterioration.

I don't know how large an area you are working with, but would a layer of larger rocks be possible? Something they could walk on but that wouldn't be "diggable" - like small river rocks? HD has quite a selection of bagged rocks that might work if you don't have a huge space to cover.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Landscaping-Supplies-Landscape-Rocks/N-5yc1vZbx5d

Plastic over the gravel floor will = mold.

Are they neutered?

I'm pretty sure it would cost $4,000 + to pour concrete down there. But like you say it may benefit the entire house. Wouldn't hurt to get some estimates.

Yes, neutered.

Totally agree with the catio idea. I don't relish the idea of cats and coyotes. Cats and dogs. Cats and songbirds. Does seem like a win-win. Protected and more control for you. Seems like... Some wood, some screen, and staples.

Plastic over the gravel floor will = mold.

I think not. We are advised to cover the dirt/rock of a crawl space floor with plastic, to keep moisture out of the space and prevent problems with mold. Moisture can still move - escape - through the soil if for some reason it reached the space, and the gravel actually allows air movement. The entire unpaved floor won't be covered, so I don't see why there would be a problem with mold which won't grow on dry stone.

I like the idea of simply laying a tarp over the gravel - you could use a canvas one instead of plastic. Or more chicken wire, perhaps?

But if you have an area that's concrete and you can confine the kitties to that, it seems like a simpler solution.

Ha - what about a litter box filled with gravel?

If the cat was a stray, he might be used to dirt and gravel rather than litter. You could put some of the dirt in the box, to make it seem more familiar.

I have a problem with cats pooping and peeing in one of my garden beds . This section is under an overhang and they go there when there is snow on the ground elsewhere. same thing when its raining. i put down this plastic fencing and it has entirely solved the problem. I got it at Home Depot and it was very inexpensive. Maybe you could cover the hravel with this? It prevents scratching and they dont like walking on it. You are kind to care for them.

If this is a new behavior, I would have the cat checked out for an underlying condition to rule that out first.

I used to have cats that basically did that in that they came and went in and out as they wanted. I did try to have them in at night because that seemed to be a time when they were most likely to get involved with something that that they should not. But, they roamed the house at night.

I am so slap happy to be free of litter boxes and dependent creatures! More than a few times one or more of them would pee on the floor. It took years for that essence to go away!

I will have no more animals and certainly not ones who are caged or confined to the house.

I have a friend who has two rescued feral cats that now live thier entire lives in her town house. Both of them have problems of puking everywhere. Neither of them is vaccinated because she claims that it is not necessary because they never go out. I think it is a sad life always looking out the window.

I would choose not to have a cat that has to be kept prisioner. It is my opinion that if you have to do that, you do not live in a place where you should have a cat. I hold that same opinion about dogs that people have living with them. There are many living arrangments where it should be questioned as to whether or not it is good for either the person or the animal or for those who live in the same area and share the common grounds. Sure the doggie poop can be picked up, but the pee saturates the ground and residue from the poop remains, making it unsanitary for others to enjoy the green spaces.

I have had and loved both dogs and cats, but I have always had a space for them to be animals.

I used to have a neighbor who "walked" his dog into the cul de sac to do his thing when they have a really big yard. But, he walked the dog across the street to the cul de sac instead. Why?

I believe alisande has little heated houses, like pet carriers with heated pads in them, on her front porch in the Winter, then leaves them outside in the Summer. Your cats don't sound like they should be in a house. Make other arrangements outside of your house....?

I have a neighbor with a catio. It gets out. Securing the catio so it's cat-escape-proof....another problem. Just don't GO there. And it looks like heck! It doesn't smell like cat pee tho....wow.

Harbor Freight sells blue tarps for about $6. But....they pee on the wall? How's covering the floor going to stop that?

You might consider buying indoor-outdoor carpeting which won't be a moisture barrier but would prevent any digging. I'm thinking of the kind of stuff they sell at Lowe's or Target or some such that may be large enough to cover the area where he's digging but very inexpensive.

Also consider putting a litter box where he's digging with gravel in it for him to use, then gradually add more litter, less gravel until he gets used to the litter.

Also make sure to space the litter boxes out around the area. Some cats can get territorial over things they need like litter space and he may be making and defending his own spot.

Sometimes I think which ever cat is doing it, is doing it out of spite. "You made me stay in here overnight, then HERE, take that!". ha (but it's not every night)

Yes, a feral or outdoor cat will always want to be an outside cat. No way would either of them be happy 24/7 in the house like my indoor cat. And all those litter boxes upstairs? No thank you. The boxes are spaced out in the cellar.

As I said, after these pass over the rainbow bridge hopefully no more will appear on my door step.

Sometimes I think which ever cat is doing it, is doing it out of spite. "You made me stay in here overnight, then HERE, take that!". ha (but it's not every night)

Sooooooooo........don't put them in the cellar. No way would I keep cats in a locked up enclosed small area.....and the cat pee...no way! You have a quality of life to live too. It's nice to be an animal lover...but putting up with cat pee......I'd have to bail.

Again, it's not so much cat pee - it's a cat pooping in the gravel and covering it with gravel. And right now, they are not locked up in a small enclosed area. It's a cellar, a decent one with heat in the winter. Agree I really don't want to put them in a cage down there.

I will not let them roam around outside at night. Just can't do it. I do like these boys, they are otherwise good cats. I'll come up with something before winter.

@schoolhouse_gwagain, Thank you for helping to keep the kitties safe. We all have different values; please don't be dissuaded by those with different values.

It wouldnt hurt to try Cat Attract litter and try a different style of box sich as an uncovered one if they are covered Maybe one box thats all gravel Are there any tensions between them? Maybe Kitty is nervous about being cornered

I see the older cat use the box. When I take them down there in the evening, he sometimes heads for a box and pees (never see him do the other, but can be there in a box in the morning). I've never really seen the younger (six yrs.) cat use a litter box. Like I say, maybe he just doesn't like or want to. He wasn't raised indoors at all like I suspect the older one may have been at one time.

Usual tensions between cats sometimes. There are plenty of other boxes to choose from in different parts of the room. May also try a different litter as someone suggested. Boxes are a normal size, not covered. Will look for larger ones.

Things I will try:

1. Tarps under/near boxes

2. Different litter

3. Larger boxes

When two of my cats were indoor/outdoor I used to put them in the downstairs bathroom at night. I did this for years with two cat beds, a litter box, and food and water, and it worked well. A bit of a nuisance to move things in and out, but it became routine. No gravel.

I have never used the Cat Attract litter but I've heard good things about it Its st Petsmart and Chewy

I will write the name of that litter down lisa. In fact I was browsing litter on Chewy's site today when I was ordering three new larger litter boxes. I have one 16" X22" down there already. I'll replace three of the five smaller ones.

Currently I use a pine and corn litter.

Put the plastic tarps down there too, on a trial basis to see how it works out. They are big blue ones I had in the barn. I didn't cover the entire floor of the cellar with them, just in the litter box area with the boxes on top of them. It will be interesting tonight when the boys go down there. I think I will leave the light off until Peach (the suspected troublemaker) comes in, and I shut the door. This way he won't see the tarps in the distance right away and make a run for the door. He is skittish of anything new. lol

A ok this morning down there.

Will update in a couple of weeks.

Good, glad to hear this is working, OP.