Pooping Outside His Box-New Habit?

[SmilodonGuaykowski]

So our 2-year old male domestic shorthair, Milo, has started pooping outside his box. It's been going on the last 2 months but it's been very weird and we're not sure what triggered it and how to stop it. A few particulars:

• He has been to the vet and there is no issue of obstruction or UTI. In the past, he has had pooping "accidents" outside his box, but they were all related to likely tummy issues (like he didn't make it to the box in time). Once that cleared up he was fine.
• He does not pee outside the box. Never has.
• The pooping is literally only in the morning. If he poops a second time during the day, it's in the box.
• The box is cleaned the night before. He does pee in the box sometime during the night (based on morning cleaning) but that's it.
• We have taken to completely changing & cleaning the litter every 2 weeks thinking he was getting finicky about the cleanliness.
• He won't use the other litter box we have for him in the bathroom.
• Originally, we thought it was a noise issue (upstairs neighbors making noise in their bathroom while getting ready and thus "scaring him") but there have been mornings when they have been quiet that he's still pooped outside the box.
• He only will poop on the tile. If I cover parts of the floor with a puppy pad or newspaper, he avoids that area and finds another.
• About 2 months ago, we changed his feeding schedule from dry-wet-wet-dry to giving him wet food in the morning to try and keep him better hydrated (we also bought him a fountain). We originally thought his behavior was directly related to him not having as much dry food access as normal and wanting our "attention", but we left extra in a timed feeder out (opened early in the morning) and he still pooped outside the box.
• Only thing we haven't tried yet is getting the *huge* litter box for him; we're reluctant to drop $30 on something that may not work.

At this point, we are left to conclude that this is likely some sort of behavioral habit. We'd like to get it to stop, so if folks have experience with this, we'll take any/all advice.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[FeebysOwner]

The pooping is literally only in the morning. If he poops a second time during the day, it's in the box.The box is cleaned the night before. He does pee in the box sometime during the night (based on morning cleaning) but that's it.

My initial thought is that he might now prefer one box to pee in and another to poop in. So, if he pees in the box overnight, then he goes outside the box later to poop. Not sure if the timing is right later in the day, unless if he pees again, you are scooping the box before he has a chance to poop again. If this could be the issue, set the two litter boxes side by side, or at least close together and see what happens.

Another thing to try is to buy some inexpensive plastic lunch trays and set one, empty, beside his regular box and see if he uses it for pooping. The plastic would make them easy to clean, and at least keep his poop off the floor. If he would resort to using these, you can gradually add a bit of litter to them and see if would continue to use them. Eventually, you could use cardboard box lids (higher sides than a lunch tray) and continue to gradually add more and more litter. If it is a behavioral habit, this slow process might break his habit over time so that he would be willing to use a 'real' litter box again.
Amazon.com: HOMMP Plastic Rectangular Fast Food Serving Trays, Set of 4 : Home & Kitchen

However, since there seems to be some type of timing connection between this behavior and the food changes, there could be some sort of reason that this is upsetting him/digestive system. It might be possible that he is having tummy issues again with whatever changes you made to his food/routine. Maybe not so much the food itself, but the order in which it is fed to him. Just another aspect to consider.