Our Odysseus (2 yo) is a male cat who we have owned his entire life.

His mother was a stray, who we took in right after she got pregnant according to the average gestation timeline. When her kittens were born, she took amazing care of them until they were weaned. After which she was rehomed.

That is to say, he’s always had a stable cat home. Ody hit all the developmental milestones at the average or above average age. We waited until the appropriate time to have him & his siblings de-sexed. No one is declawed.

He’s been vet checked & has nothing physical stopping him from using the 5 downstairs litter boxes 4 of which are equipped with Worlds Best Litter while one is an empty clean box (more on that below.)

His siblings all use a litter box without any hesitation.

His mom hates the feeling of litter but she compromises by putting two paws outside of the box.

Ody on the other hand won’t use a box with litter.

We live in an area of the US where cat behavioralists are a few and far between so we’re trying to troubleshoot this ourselves.

Based on the fact that he will pee in an empty box or on a puppy pad our best guess is he hates the feeling of litter.

Once we clean all the spots he’s peeing on & make sure there isn’t any litter on the floor around the boxes

how do we encourage proper litter box use?