Older Cat toileting

Question
We have a male cat who is about 14 years old. He usually uses the litter box or goes outside, but recently he has started using the rug in the bathroom to urinate and defecate on. What can cause this behavior shift and what can we do about it? We understand that he has a wound, but it is on his ear.

Answer
An older cat can have things medically start going on. I would first have him checked by a vet and rule that out.

Is his litter box in the bathroom? I would get rid of the rug for one thing, now that his scent is there he's going to continue using it. Cats will urinated on other things as a way of telling you that something is wrong and they don't know how to tell you.