cat not using litter for BMs only

Question
I have a great cat. We got her about 2 1/2 yrs ago as a stray. She is a declawed indoor cat.
I have 2 litters for her and we change them daily.
For some reason she has occassionly decided to do her BM's on my son's carpet. Now more frequently she does her BM's in our kids playroom. If we close the door she does it right outside the door. This has been going on for a while but now is alomost daily.
She urinates in the litter fine. She eats wells, drinks water, etc and is healthy otherwise.
This romm was renovated a few months ago and new carpet was put in. Could it be she likes this carpet feel? But why this room. Is there anything else I can do to correct the bad habit?
thanks

Answer
Hello Marie!

Something I recently learned about declawed kitties is that some litter hurts their paws.  I recommend finding a nice, soft litter, and trying that in her boxes, as she may find it simply more comfortable to "go" on that newer, softer carpet than she does her litter.  If you think about it, standing all the time it takes to "go #2", I could see that if the litter hurt her feet in the slightest, she would prefer going somewhere nice and soft.

So, try getting a softer litter, and also I would recommend getting an enzyme-based cleaner to clean those spots that she's "gone" on in your son's room.  Enzyme-based cleaners take away the smell and actual BM on a bacterial level, so that there's absolutely ZERO evidence that she's gone there before, even to HER nose.  :o)

Another thing, you might consider getting a plastic hallway runner (the kind that are kinda thick and have teeth on the bottom to hold it in place on carpet) to put about two feet inside his room under the door, and make sure it spans the area outside his door...then close the door so that during the period that she's adjusting to having the new litter, she won't have the availability of his room as an alternative.

Let me know how all that goes, ok?

Hugs to you all!  :o)

Rosie