question for people who have cats

I am at my wits end!! We have cats, and they have been insisting on pooping and peeing in places besides their litter box. I suspect that it's only one cat doing this. Recently we moved their food and litter into the basement because we're having a baby, and initially their litter was in the baby;s room. The other day, i found cat pee on the basement floor, and now 2 days in a row, there has been poop and pee in a wicker basket that was on the floor. DH cleans the litter EVERYDAY. What do you think is making them do this, and how do we make it stop?
When they were upstairs, every once inawhile, one of them would poop and pee on the floor, which is why we couldn't have them up here anymore.
I would appreciate ANY ideas you have! TIA!

Re: question for people who have cats

There's always a reason they stop using their box and it's not to make you mad or get revenge Take a close look at what's going on in your cat's world.

there could me a thousand reasons:
The box isn't clean enough for her.
She doesn't like the type of box: It's too big, too small, too high, too low, has a hood, doesn't have a hood, too hard to get into, and so on.
She doesn't like the litter: It's clay, it's clumping, scented, unscented, too hard, too soft, she doesn't like litter at all, there's too much, not enough, etc.
She doesn't like the location: It's out in the open, too hard to get to, next to a noisy appliance, in the basement when she wants it in the living room, etc.
She's too young, too old, or too unwell to make it to the basement to use the box.
She was startled by something or someone or "ambushed" by another pet while she was in it.
There aren't enough boxes for the number of cats you have.
Something in her environment or routine has changed. She's anxious and is marking her territory to reassure or assert herself.
She associates the box with punishment. (For example, someone punished her for eliminating outside the box, and then placed her in it.)


EDT:
Clean the soiled areas well. Animals are highly motivated to continue soiling an area that smells like urine or feces. A cat's sense of smell is much stronger than a human’s, so it's important to clean the soiled areas thoroughly and properly.

it could also be a medical issue, but i doubt that given the changes that you have made....

Message edited 8/4/2010 1:52:24 PM.

Re: question for people who have cats

I had the same problem for THREE months. I was literally at my wits end and completely desperate for an answer. Just within the past 4 weeks or so, our cat has started using her litter (90% of the time, at least).

For us, we kept changing the litter till we found one she liked. We tried all different types (we have 2 cats, and the other cat goes in ANY litter, so it wasn't a big deal if we bought lots of different litters - we'd end up using them all anyway). We ultimately dumped her whole litter box out, washed it, and tried the Petco generic brand... and lo and behold, she uses it.

Our kitty had been going on a carpeted area, so we cleaned it with Nature's Miracle, followed by Arm & Hammer baking soda stuff (the stuff you put on the carpet a few minutes before vacuuming). We really tried to get EVERY bit of scent out. In combination with the Petco litter, this seemed to work (so far at least - we're hoping for the best).

Sorry i have nothing else to offer. It is VERY frustrating and unsanitory and I was going crazy! I thought cats naturally knew to use their litter, and that I had the only cat in the universe that didn't!

Good luck, I'm sure you will find something that works!