Male Neutered Cat Missing the Litter Box

Question
Hello!  My name is michelle and I have a five year old male cat who had been neutered and declawed before I got him.  He was the greatest cat until he recently got litter box-lazy.  He's not spraying, per se, but he tends to miss the box quite frequently (even when standing in the box) and urinates on the carpet.  If i put the boxes in a roomy closet with hardwood so it wont make such a mess, he just urinates outside the closet and doesn't bother to go in, the same problem occurs when I have a box with a hood on it.  I tried putting down plastic on the carpet around the boxes, but that turns into a smelly mess within a day or two.  Do you (1) have any suggestions to help him be more accurate when he urinates and (2) any suggestions for what products I could use to help clean the previous messes?

Answer
Hi Michelle!

Instead of using a standard litter box, go to Walmart and get one of those large plastic storage bins. They come with a lid , that you won't need.  I use this for my two cats and it works great!  It is not only larger, but much deeper so they can scratch around all they want to and litter stays in the box.  In your case, once he is in it, it would be impossible to "miss".  Now, if he goes outside the box, that is another case altogether.  

I would use one part water to one part vinegar for cleaning. It's cheap and it works!!  It's good for carpet too, but test a small unseen area first for color fastness.

Good luck and God Bless!
Becky