Litter tray

Question
Eight months ago, my wife and I adopted a beautiful 5yr old Maine Coon.  She came to us as a 'fully house-trained' house cat.  However, although she always uses the litter tray to urinate, she rarely uses it for solids.  Until now, we have put this down to territory-marking and don't make a big deal of it.  We have two trays for her to use and clean them at least twice daily.
We always know when she has done something as she tears around the house and sometimes hides.  What can we do to understand her behaviour and correct it?  Any help will be greatly appreciated!!  

Answer
A number of possibilities exist, but fundamentally two
categories: behavioral vs. medical. If behavioral, then
frequent changes of litter (weekly for one cat) and daily
removal of feces, locating box in a quiet/calm place, use of appropriate pan for this cat--some cats will only use a
covered pan, others only an uncovered pan. Other
considerations to address are scented vs. unscented litter;
location of food/water dishes--some cats will not use the
pan near food/water; convenient access to pan-if you have  a multi- story home, then a pan on each floor may be necessary.
If medical intestinal parasitism or inflammatory bowel disease can be implicated. You will need to consult with a veterinarian during an office exam to begin to unravel what is the root cause of this problem.
On occasion feeding a high quality diet makes a huge
difference in defecation patterns: there is very little
filler in better diets and therefore lower bulk, which then
results in reduced fecal output.

That is the opinion of the vet that I use. However, often the problem is that the cat is feeling lonely. If you give her a lot of cuddling, affection and attention, you may see an end to this problem. Cats are often trying to tell you something by this behavior.
They want your time and attention and will let you know if they feel neglected.

Regards,
Barb