So my five month old male Bengal/Savannah mix has this issue. I don't think it's the female because I have actually seen her use the litter box.

For some reason he wants to urinate at the bottom of the steps in my den. He is not spraying the wall but just the carpet. Maybe because he is not fully sexual mature? I have also caught him squatting in the bathroom sink while trying to shave. But so far only once I know of.

He has also defecated in this same spot. Not only that but he has defecated in front of my stereo entertainment system and behind it (but I don't think has urinated in either spot). When it was behind my stereo, this was the diarrhea type. He did defecate upstairs a couple of times but has since stopped.

I'm not sure about the bottom of the steps but I do know we have had dogs that have had accidents in these same spots in my den. So he must be smelling these areas and thinking it's OK to use the bathroom in these areas.

Although he is probably not fully sexually mature he is not going around the house marking his territory. He keeps choosing this one particular spot to urinate in.

So what have I done about it?

I first thought perhaps because he is such a large cat he did not like the Igloo litter box so I bought two of those large Sterilite totes and cut holes in the side so each cat had their own litter box. These are quite large. About 2'X3'X2'. Something like that.

Then next thing was trying to get the smell out of the carpet. Despite popular opinion, I think the only way to really get the smell out is to rip the carpet and padding up. You might be able to remove the smell after the carpet has dried so it doesn't stink up the room but otherwise it's still there.

I have cleaned this area by doing the following. Poured boiling hot water on the carpet and sucked it up using one of those spot cleaners. Then poured vinegar over the entire area. Used some of that Natural's Miracle odor remover stuff from Pet Smart on top of that.

I did aim one of those squirrel cage fans at the area in an attempt to dry the area but my wife complained that it was pushing the smell upstairs. She didn't not like that idea.

I then stuck some cardboard boxes between my stereo and speakers so he couldn't get back in there and so far so good on that. I also dragged the litter box and placed it over top of this 1'X1' area and shoved a box between the litter box and the wall so he would not continue to use the bathroom in this one spot. I realize by doing so the carpet will not be able to dry out and could mildew.

This actually seemed to work for awhile. Until I moved the litter box. Now he is doing this again! But who wants to have to step over a litter box at the foot of the steps?

So yesterday I went back to Pet Smart and bought some sort of odor neutralizer/repellent made by the same company. I did read that cats do not like the smell of citrus.

This time I sprinkled baking soda over the area. This really brought out of the ammonia smell! I sucked that up with my cleaner. Poured boiling hot water over the area and sucked it up again. Then sprayed some of this repellent over top of that. He sniffed around the area. As of now the litter box is over top of this area once again!

Sounds to me like I am going to have to bring the litter box upstairs, get out the fan and shut the door until this area dries.

Now here is what I think is going on.

I clean both of these litter boxes daily but have not dumped it up in awhile. I don't want to sound cheap but no more than what kitty litter is (clay) it is quite expensive. Kind of like buying a 500 ml bottle of water for $1.00 when you can get the exact same stuff from the tap for practically nothing.

After cleaning this area, I dumped both litter boxes out and replaced the litter in one box with fresh litter. So now they have only one box. The other brand of liter I was using created too much dust. This stuff is supposed to be 100% dust free according to the box.

He immediately went into the box and used it. So the question is, could the reason he refuses to use the litter box is because it's not clean enough for him? I mean, I wouldn't want to use a nasty bathroom either but cats are cats and can be nasty at times.

Are there any alternatives I could use besides clay? I have a wood chipper. I've got an endless supply of wood on my property I could easily make my own. And my father has a wood planer so I've got allot of wood shavings I could use as well.

Are cats known to accept wood chips in their liter box?

When cleaning up cat pee, you need to use an enzymatic cleaner. Period. Anything else is not going to work, and may actually make it worse (like you've noted... it can actually bring out the cat pee smell). Nature's miracle is one such, but there are many others, and some are made to work with a rug cleaner. A black light is also really useful. I'd lay off the boiling water, vinegar etc.

As far as preventing this behavior in the future, from what you've said it sure sounds like he's not accepting the litterbox that you've selected for him. Whether it be the location, the size of the box, the fact that it's covered, the litter itself, or the fact that there is only one of them, something is not clicking with him. And I think you're being a little too stubborn about it.

Jackson Galaxy has approached cases like this in a very cat-centric way. Rather than trying to guess, he'll tell clients to put down lots of boxes, with various litters and at various locations, and then you learn what he'll use, then you can start removing boxes. Some cats like to pee in one box, and poo in another, so think in terms of 2 boxes minimum, and most cats prefer boxes that are "open" rather than hooded. Some cats are really "control freaks" about litterboxes, so something like changing a location will trigger them to reject a litterbox. Jackson talked about how his cat preferred his litterbox to be in an inconvenient location (in the middle of a room) but in order to relocate it, he had to do it over a period of time, moving the box inches a day. Any more than that, would cause it to be rejected.

The other thing is that I'm guessing he must be a pretty huge cat (since he's part Savannah?). He may need a box bigger than any commercial box that you can buy in a pet store. Even for large pure-bengal males, I've heard a lot of members say that they had to improvise and create their own boxes to find something that would work.

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The little monsters 3

Most cats are fine with a litter box, but can be particular as to the type of box. Open or hooded. Usually we suggest you use a box and litter the breeder was using, but with your Introduction post, I'm guessing the breeder isn't much of a breeder. Thus ... these cats may not have great litter box habits. A good breeder always makes sure their kittens have been trained to use the litter box. Cats who do not use a litter box are trying to tell you something -- they don't like the box, the location, or the litter. Since you have two cats, you need three litter boxes. If you have a multi-level home, you will need boxes on each level.

Once cat urine has soaked through the carpeting and pad, you will NEVER EVER get the smell out. You may mask it for a while, but it will come back out. If you are on a plywood subfloor (as we were), and it reached the wood, it is impossible to get rid of the smell without pulling up the carpet and pad and using a primer/sealer to go over the spot multiple times. On concrete, you can use an acid wash to clean the spot,

I use Nature's Miracle on areas my bengal sprays, but I still can see the spot with the black light so I'm going to see if I can find something that will eliminate the spot completely.

Very rarely do new owners have this issue. It does happen, but dealing with it becomes problematic for owners because it is frustrating and you get tired of cleaning it up. Your kitties don't know any better, obviously, or you wouldn't have this issue. Unless your kitties suddenly find and use the litterboxes, you are going to continue to have messes, so take some time and have a lot of patience and make sure the boxes are in areas where the cats have privacy. Good luck.

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The little monsters 3

Our "Kitty" who was diabetic and in kidney failure was going in the same spot and I was cleaning it over and over again. Unfortunately, when she peed, it was a LOT of pee due to her medical conditions. When we finally decided to install hardwood floors, the padding was a mess as was the plywood subfloor. We put three to four coats of a sealer over it. Note, too, the original carpet was the cheapest, thinnest they could put in a spec house at the time -- Raiden likes to spray the walls and I clean that with Nature's Miracle and my husband insists he can still smell it. I can't. Not sure a shampooer could get right up next to the wall. Sometimes cats are frustrating. LOL