going outside the box

Question
My daughter has a male cat about 8 months old. Sometimes he urinates outside his litterbox. For instance, on her bed, the area rug, folded clothes, etc.. I change and wash his litter box weekly. I brought him home from where ai work, he was a stray kitten and was about two or three months old then. My daughters and I have grown to love him so much, but my Husband has never lived with an indoor animal and OJ's urination problem is not helping where he is concered. Is there anything I can do to fix this so that we can continue to enjoy him for years to come(OJ and my husband that is)?

Answer
Well Christina, the first thing to ask is, is your cat neutered? If not, I can almost guarantee you that is the problem there. There are also other things that can make an animal go outside of the box. If it hurts him while he is urinating, due to a health problem, that will cause cats to go outside thier box often. There are some cat's that don't like to poop and pee in the same box. In that case, you would simply get another litter box. There is no way to know for sure over the computer why your cat is doing this. All I can do is give you some possiblilties. You can take him to the vet and he can check for health problems and things like that. Or you can try what I suggested. It is important to rule out a health problem though so I suggest you take him in. I want to apologize for the delay in answering your question. I am truely sorry. I have had some problems at home and didn't get a chance to sit down at the computer. I am very sorry. I hope I helped. Have a great day hon.