naughty cat

Question
i've got a 6 month old cat. i've had him since he was tiny. every thing is perfect with him, hes well behaved, loving, litter trained, only hes started pooing on the kitchen floor. he mainly does it at night, so i leave the light on, nope. i make sure his trays clean, nope, i bleach the floor often, nope, i even tried covering the floor in tin foil, but he just moved it out the way!! do you have any reasons or suggestions!!!

Answer
Hi Sarah,

He sounds like a real cutie!  : )

A kitten this age whose toilet habits were perfect up until this point, could have several reasons for the sudden change.  The first thing you should do is bring him to the vet for a complete physical to see if he has a medical problem which is causing him to not use his litterbox recently.  He could be constipated, and defecating could cause him some pain; he would then associate the pain with the litterbox and choose to go on the kitchen floor instead.
Is it possible that after he eats (in the kitchen?), the litterbox is too far away for him to make it in time?  Most cats do use the litterbox after eating, so keep that in mind.

If everything checks out alright medically, then you'd have to treat this as a behavioral problem.  You say you keep his litterbox clean, which is great, but perhaps he doesn't like the type of litter you're using.  Also, what is the location of the box?  It should be in a low-traffic area of the household and not near any major appliances, etc., which make loud noises.  Is it possible that something frightened him while he was in the box, last?  

The rule of thumb is one box per cat, plus one.  Some cats prefer to urinate in one box and defecate in another.  Personally, I have only one box (one cat) because I don't have room for two, and my cat is fine with doing all his business in the one, which I also clean (scoop the solids) daily.  Some cats prefer a hooded box to an open one, and vice versa.  I realize you said he was doing fine until these incidents, so you probably feel if he was fine with the litter type/brand and box type, etc., then why all of a sudden, a change?  Well, cats are mysterious in that way and sometimes you can determine the reason, and sometimes you never do.

You mentioned leaving a light on; were you referring to the kitchen?  Actually, it's a fallacy that cats can see in complete darkness, so you SHOULD leave a nightlight on in the kitchen if that's where his food dishes are, and also in the bathroom, if that's where the litterbox is.  That's what I do for my baby.

Cleaning the areas he's soiled with a bleach solution is fine, but there's a product called "Nature's Miracle" which completely removes pet stains and odors from any water-safe material.  If a cat can smell where he's gone before, he's most likely to do it there again, so something like Nature's Miracle would be great for this purpose.  It's sold in major pet stores like Petco/Petsmart and also online (http://naturesmiracle.com/).  You can shop around for the best price.  

You can try a litter called 'Cat Attract' which contains an herbal attractant for cats who are having this type of problem.  You can try to 're-train' him to use the litter box by putting him in there after eating and gently scratching at the litter with his front paw.  Stay with him until he produces and then praise him liberally.  If he doesn't seem to have to go at that time, don't force him to stay there, just keep an eye on him and place him back in the box a few minutes later.  By the way, is he neutered?  I'm assuming since he's six months old, he is.  If not, please take care of this immediately.

Well, I hope this is just a 'phase' and there's nothing physically wrong with him!

Good luck!

Cher   : )