We have a super friendly, affectionate cat that we all adore 99% of the time. He is a 4 year old neutered cat that we adopted when he was 1.5yrs old. We also have two other cats; they all get on very well, sleep together, clean each other etc. All three are indoor cats, though they have a catio run to use whenever. Life has been constant for him with no major changes since we got him.
This boy has always had trouble using the litter tray for both wee and poo. He has been like this since we got him, we all fell in love with him and initially thought it was settling in problems, but he's still doing it despite having been here 2.5yrs.
At least once a week he will wee somewhere that isn't a litter tray, e.g. a sofa, a duvet etc. He has a distinctive, "I need a wee" meow so I often end up putting him in the tray repeatedly until he pees in there. He will often poo in the bath...but gives no signal for that.
We have 5 litter trays for 3 cats, we have lidded ones, open ones, deep ones, shallow ones. He has no preference. I have tried posh litter, cheap litter, wood litter, pellet litter, branded, unbranded.
I am on top of cleaning the trays and keep them fresh so he's not put off by a 'used' tray.
We have Feliway diffusers and Feliway sprays, though I think there is a urine one that we haven't tried.
He's been checked at the vet for infection but no issues there and he's up to date with vaccinations.
What else can we do? we aren't about to rehome him, but I'd quite like to not be washing sofa covers and duvets as often as I do.
I think the fact that I cleaned all 5 trays out last night, not one was used by the others, yet he did a full bladder of wee on a towel that my son had left on his bedroom floor.
Help and ideas please!