Why have my cats suddenly decided to start doing business outside of the litterbox

[Linguaphile]

Why?? We have two cats, so not sure if it's one or both, but twice in the last week I've found wee and poo outside of the litterbox, once at the back of a dark closet and today in a pile of doll clothes in my children's playroom. What could be causing this, and how do I make it stop? Is it a laziness thing on their part, where I would need to put another letterbox up on those floors so that they don't have to trek to the utility room for the existing box? Are they sick? They seem to be happy cats and spend a few hours of the day outside (we live in the countryside). Nothing new and no major upheavals or anything. The cats are about 9 months old and have been great with only going in their litterbox up until now. What's going on?? Help!

How many litter trays do you have? They recommend 1 per cat plus a spare (if you have the room).

I would also take to the vets, just to rule out anything suspicious x

Second litter tray, talk to vet. Are they spayed?

I would guess one of your cats doesn't like using the same box as the other cat.
Do they go out?
If not you need more litter boxes and keep them scrupulously clean.
I had something very similar. One of my cats basically marked every litter box and the other cat wouldn't use it then. It only stopped when the less dominant cat could toilet outdoors away from the other cat.

You only have one tray?
You need more.
How often do you clean it? Are they ever having to use a soiled tray?

Changes in habits can also be indicative of illness, such as urinary infection. It's unlikely to be laziness.

Sorry, I should have clarified. We have two large boxes that we scoop out every day, they’re just sitting next to each other in the utility room. The cats spend a few hours outside every day and do go outside quite a bit, so actually there is rarely much in the way of poo in the boxes on the days they’re outside a lot.

This morning I went into let them out of the utility room and one of them had pooped on the worktop surface, not even in a corner or in a pile of clothes or anything. It’s normal poo, not diarrhea or anything. 🤔 Could it be the bags in the litterboxes that’s causing the problem? They don’t seem to like pawing through the litter and catching a bag with the litter. Should I just pour the litter straight in and forego the bags?

Oh, and yes they are both fixed. They are a brother and sister who we adopted together as tiny kittens, and we’ve never had a problem so it is quite puzzling!

Because cats are a pain and they will do whatever they want to do wherever they want to do it. There is no saying what our cat will do next he is a complete law unto himself.

If the liners are spooking them, try newspaper perhaps?
Or else they are just major assholes. Even mine don't poo on the worktop!

What litter are you using?

Mine decided that the woodchip she has been using for years was totally unacceptable. Several sacks of cat litter later and she's decided cats best meets her exacting standards.

@Autosavepassword

What litter are you using?

Mine decided that the woodchip she has been using for years was totally unacceptable. Several sacks of cat litter later and she's decided cats best meets her exacting standards.

This.

Change your litter for something else, they have decided they don't like it. I had use paper pellet litter happily for many years and then one of mine decided it wasn't acceptable.

I changed one of my trays to clumping litter and all 3 cats started using that exclusively.

They also can't bear a dirty used tray. I've invested in a Litter Robot so it self cleans every time it is used. Expensive but It has been worth it!

We’ve been using everclean because it’s brilliant at clumping and is the only thing that manages to keep the stink contained! Any suggestions of something that would be similarly good?

Cats best oko plus is what I use.

Zooplus do small bags of various litters if you wanted to buy a selection and try them out.