Why oh why won't they piddle outside!?

[cakesandphotos]

We recently (two months ago) moved house. In our old house we had a hallway and always kept a litter tray in there as our cats are shut in at night.
In the new house we don't have a hallway so the litter tray is in the kitchen. Once the boys had settled properly we started letting them out. They now have total outside access so we started removing the litter tray during the day and bringing it back in at night. All was well.
Or so we thought… at the weekend we noticed that someone has peed on a pile of magazine and knitting patterns under the tv the knitting patterns are no more
We cleaned it all up with much outrage from DH! It wasn't that horrible car wee smell so I don't think they were marking, just going to the loo.
We have now stopped taking away the little tray and have introduced one into the bathroom too. Only problem is that they seem to only use the litter tray and don't go outside for the loo!
As a result my bathroom (fortunately not kitchen) smells of cat poo.
How can we encourage them to go back to using the big outside toilet without risking patches of piddle in our house?

Why would you want your cats shitting on your lawn when they can use a litter box?

Or do you want them to helpfully toddle off to someone else's garden to do it? I feel like I spend half my days banging on windows to get the neighbours cats to piss off and toilet in their own gardens.

In he litter tray is where they should be going to the toilet instead of pissing off the neighbours by shitting all over their lawns.
If you don't want to deal with cat shit and a cat shit smell then don't have cats.

Wow Wild. How friendly. Cat's are clean and bury any mess they make so I actually would prefer them to poo in my flower beds and cover it over. No objection from me. And as there's at least 6 other cats in the immediate vicinity, I highly doubt there would be objections from the neighbour's either.

Wow harsh responses OP! I'm assuming the two PPs aren't cat lovers owners!
Its a tricky one. My two are definitely still attached to the litter trays, we've had them 7 weeks now and they don't seem very clued up about the big outside world. I have just accepted the litter trays for now but would hope that over time they'll start to go to the toilet outside. As you've only moved two months ago the only advice I can think of is to give it more time. I have read about people creating an outdoor litter tray, where you dig out an area close to the house for them to use, obviously they need their litter there to start with until they get used to it, have a look on the catchat forum I'm sure I read it on there.

Wow, some nasty replies. Anyone would have thought this is AIBU and not the Litter Tray!

We've always had a litter tray for ours OP and he tends to wee in the tray in the morning and poo in the garden (our garden before people start having a go at me as well!). He has used the tray for a poo but it never smells too bad. What are you feeding them? We found Felix produced the devil's litter tray, even the cat looked embarrassed when he emerged from the bathroom! He's now on Natures Menu and James Wellbeloved biscuits and it's not usually too bad.

I can tell you from bitter experience that not all cats bury their poo. And even when they do, it's deeply unpleasant to be working in your flowerbeds and come across it. More so when you're not the cat owner.
And before you dismiss my opinion as cat hating, I used to have 7 and do fostering for the CPL.
It's great that your cats are properly litter trained and you should encourage it.

It's cold out there OP! Would you go for a wee outside? They'll freeze their bits off! Ground might be a bit hard for burying too at the moment.

2 options.

1. Covered litter tray outside back door.
2. Dig over a nice big patch of garden and loving plant some bulbs.

Is it harsh to expect people's cats to use a litter tray instead of the neighbours garden?
And as for burying their mess, that usually ends up wth my lawn being dug up and the cat poo still visible on top of the lawn.

Is there an attractive area in your garden for them to use? We have really heavy soil which is hard to dig in and our cats have been reluctant to toilet outside because it is too much like hard work. If an area has been dug over it becomes a cat loo for a while. I considered making an area that was always soft to dig in so that they would use it. Then I realised it would be just as easy to have a litter tray. You can get outdoor litter trays, I think.
Back in the day I had a 2 up 2 down terraced house with a kitchen extension. The gravel on the flat roof was a cat toilet because it was the only place they could dig, the yards all around were concrete.

Why don't you just have a litter tray? It's no big deal. It's easily manageable. I'd rather have a tray than have them piss all over my house or poo in neighbours' gardens. If you had a dog, you'd need to clear up.

Our litter tray is in the bathroom. Smell managed, cleanliness managed.

You might be right yes it could be that it's just too cold and wet.
We do always have a litter tray, they've had one in the house since they were tiny. When we took it out, it was just outside the back door. Maybe encouraging them to use the litter tray but use it outside might be the way to go.

They don't bury it fully. As a keen gardener I hate finding shit in amongst my veg and herbs. So my cats have two indoor trays and large pots of freshly dug soil to use in the garden to minimise toiletting elsewhere. Trays are just part and parcel of having cats.

Is it harsh to expect people's cats to use a litter tray instead of the neighbours garden?

Not at all, there's just nicer ways of putting it than in some of the posts on here!

Oh god I feel terrible mines in the kitchen it's one of those posh ones she has to jump into. I'm in a flat I have no choice we are in a flat I get rid of the poo when ever she does it and the Windows always open. I hope it doesn't smell
No ones ever said

my three cats could be outside from dawn to dusk and still come in and uses the litter trays but i would rather clean a tray out than have neighbours upset cos they had gone in their garden

I've got 3 cats, 2 pretty much indoor cats and one who comes and goes during the day and kept in at night. The two indoor cats pee in their trays but will not poo in them. They poo on the tiled floor, disgusting, I know, but at least tiles can be easily cleaned. My other "outdoor" cat still uses her litter tray for number 1s and number 2s. I've tried removing her tray, but as soon as it's put back down at night, she goes straight to it and does her business.

I can't believe these aggressive posts are from The Litter Tray. I thought it must have started out in AIBU and been moved, but no.

The answer to your question is because often it's just nicer to not have to go outside. Would you want to? If it's raining, or cold for example? At least this way you will know if they have problems such as cystitis or blocked bladder.

I would leave the litter trays in same place during the daytime, rather than moving them about OP. You've recently moved, so your cats are still finding their feet in their new surroundings. They feel particularly vulnerable when toiletting, especially if there's a Big Bad Bully Cat out there.

Have you tried lidded trays? I have them for my 2 boys. They can fling around litter to their hearts' content.

*... Oh, and yes, I've never found The Litter Tray anything than a friendly place. Don't be put off by a couple of posts.

Thanks for the replies
We used to live on a farm so them going outside was the least of anyone's worries! We have two covered trays, I think we'll just have to accept that that's what they're using.
The neighbour's have cat's so you might be right Rubbish they might feel intimidated to go outside. (Although the little one isn't intimidated enough to stop stealing the bagged carcasses of the neighbour's cat but that's another thread!)