CS cat owners...

[McGoddess09]

My cats' litterbox is down in the basement. Not only do they do their business in the litterbox, but also in different areas of the basement. Do any of you have an idea of how to keep them from doing this?

We can't really catch them in the act, as it is the basement.

And we do clean out the litterbox everyday.

Help?

[fireheart]

Clean it with something that'll eliminate the scent, it's more of a territorial thing I think.
Otherwise, maybe place something that smells like citrus in the corners.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Cover the whole floor with cat litter?

[Bright_Star]

For every cat that you have, you have to have one litter box PLUS 1. I have 3 cats so there are 4 litter boxes in my house.
Are your cats "fixed"? IF not & they're male then it might be signs of marking territory. Get em fixed right away. They'll end up being much better cats & in turn YOU"LL feel better about them also.
Make sure you "scoop the poop" everyday. There are cats who will not use the litter box if it's not clean enough for them. & clean out the entire litter box by dumping out the old litter, washing out the liiter box & replacing it with fresh litter. Add some baking soda cause it helps cut down on odors & it helps cleaning the boxes that much easier.

[Android Kaeli]

Clean out the litter box every few hours, or at least a couple of times a day if you have more then one cat. Don't put a lot of litter in the box, just to cover the bottom of the box and enough so that there's no mess on the bottom. Add some baking soda in every other day to help with the odor, also clean out the box completely at least twice a month.

Or do what I do: get rid of the litter box, let the cats do their business outside.

[Red_Dazes]

You might want to try something along the lines of
Apple bitters
Citranella(sp) spray
or Vinegar

Make it smell bad where they have problems going (ie NOT THE LITTER BOX) and it should discourage there little noses from leading them there it will also eliminate their personal smell from the area and thus not making it seem like "Poo corner" instead it will be "Vinegar corner"

Worked for our cats and our carpet sharks.

[Kittish]

First thing that comes to mind is territorial issues. I've heard of (but been lucky enough not to have to deal with) cats who refused to use a litter box that any other cat used.

One possible suggestion, if the cats tend to make messes on the same areas of the floor repeatedly is set up a litter box at each location. The one box per cat plus one rule of thumb that Bright_Star mentioned is a good rule of thumb to follow if you can.

Another possibility to consider is that one or more of your cats don't like the litter you use. Especially if you've recently changed types or brands. Cats tend to be as fussy about their toilet as they are about their food.

There are also behavorial and medical issues that can cause a cat to refuse to use a litter box. If this is a recent problem, especially, I'd suggest getting them all checked over by a vet.

ETA: Something else came to mind, when I remembered one cat that I had. She was a large cat, and the 'standard' sizes of litterbox were very cramped for her, to the point where she'd refuse to use them. I solved that problem happily for everyone by using an under the bed storage tote as a litterbox. Bonus is that it comes with a locking lid, if you ever need to move the litter box more than a few feet.

[Primer]

Wow, I really appreciate my cats more, now! 3 cats, 2 boxes, side-by-side, and they are lucky to get scooped once a week! 2 of the cats do seem to prefer to go outside, though.

Anyway... try putting boxes down in the areas the cats do use, and slowly move them to where they should be. I've heard other people say it worked for them.

[protege]

When I first brought Kitty home...he had some litterbox issues. He'd use the litterbox, but also any other box that looked similar. The easy thing was to get rid of any empty boxes lying around. Second...was to put another box upstairs...as well as the one under the basement steps.

Still though, not all litterbox issues are easily explained--when I got up this morning, one of the kitties (Baxter?) chose to shit on the kitchen table

[SilverOrb]

Pennyroyal oil in the places where you don't want them to go will do the trick.

[Miyon]

I got bad news only sorry. I had 4 cats, all but one would use the litter boxes. The forth, he would 'say 1/10' use the box no matter how clean it was. I ended up with a plastic sheet covering most of the basement and would have to replace it every other day. It go so bad that I had to mop the whole area with bleach every other day to kill the smell of cat piss soaking up in the cement.

After 8 years it never got better. The last year I had him he didnt even bother going to the basement. He started to piss in the kitchen and on the carpet.

Two horrible stories but funny now.
Supposedly when your cat starts peeing, if you pick him up he will stop. I had a big group of friends over and of course the cat started to pee in the middle of the room. I picked him up and, nope, pee didnt stop but sprayed all over.

Second one, I had a guy friend over after work that I really liked. We were watching tv and the cat peed all over his bookbag. Great first impression.

I ended up having to give the cat to a farm. I was so sad but nothing I tried worked.

[Akasa]

I had a cat that was very picky about the cat box. As in she's go pee on my bed if it wasn't up to her standards.
I fixed it by getting one of those automated cat boxes. I know they're expensive, but it has the added bonus of having to stoop to clean it a very short thing. Just clean out the recepticle till it starts to smell itself then change the receptilcle.

[auntiem]

Pennyroyal oil in the places where you don't want them to go will do the trick.

It would work, but as a girl I'm always a little leary about pennyroyal since ingesting it can cause abruptions. (don't know in what doses)

My folk's cats did the same thing and they each had a box + 1, I think when they moved the boxes across the basement from each other that did the trick for their cats.

[the toy guy]

I have heard that putting foil down over the places they are going will discourage that. Apparently, they don't like the sound it makes when they step on it.

[Kittish]

I have heard that putting foil down over the places they are going will discourage that. Apparently, they don't like the sound it makes when they step on it.

That one may or may not work. The cats I currently live with would try to EAT the foil if we were silly enough to leave any where they could reach it. Yes, they would seriously try to eat unused aluminum foil. Not a good thing for kitties to eat. And yes, they are provided with plenty of food (dry cat food plus getting lots of tidbits of people food as well as fresh greens).