dirty cat

Question
I have this cat, she is the youngest out of all the cats, I used to have her in my apartment, but when I moved home I brought her with me. She uses the litter box every now and then, but she also goes to the bathroom on the floor or basically anywhere. She never used to do this in my apartment. She has been at my parents house for about a little over a year now. She only started to do this over the summer. She is fixed and everything. Is there anyway to make her stop? We put her in the litter box every hour or so, but she already uses it, but also goes elsewhere in the house.

Answer
Jill,

Your cat should see a vet to rule out any infections or problems with her bladder and bowels. Because this has been happening for so long, it is possible that retraining her will be an exercise in patience. For future reference, when a cat changes its toileting habits there is something wrong, whether it is a change in kitty litter, a new air freshener, a bladder infection......Once your vet checks your kitty out you will need to ask about referral to a behaviorist to help retrain the cat to use the box, due to the fact that this is longstanding if your cat has some sort of bladder or bowel issue and that is the reason for her litter box avoidance you will need to get that cleared up and start a retraining program to deal with her issues. For future reference, it is much easier to stop a behavior that is not as long standing as what you describe....Hope it all turns out for the better. You will need to clean every area that she has soiled with an enzymatic cleaner and you can even put food on those spots (as long as they aren't too close to the litter). Cats do not like to potty where they eat....An enzymatic cleaner will help avoid her making the same mistake based on smell alone....If you have any further questions or concerns that your vet hasn't answered you can try sending them my way, but because this issue has been a problem for months now I can't guarantee that I will be able to answer them any better than your vet can. I hope that you can get this turned around sooner rather than later....Good luck. As I said I will try to provide answers and advice that works for the situation, but I really do think that this particular situation requires a vet's help in conjunction with a professional behaviorist.