Random Dumb pet question

[waverly]

Our cat is indoor/ outdoor. We fought him on this for years, but he repeatedly tried to get out and is super fast. If we chase him he’s impossible to get back inside. If we leave him be we can easily scoop him up and bring him inside, so we gave up chasing him and immediately bringing him back inside. He was outdoor before we got him. There are rules, he gets monthly preventative care, up to date on all vaccines, not allowed outside at night or during the day while we work, basically just evenings and weekends when the weather is warm.

He is dumb though so instead of going to the bathroom anywhere in our entire yard he is pooping in our garage attic. I don’t really want to put a litter box up there because one more thing for me to clean- DH won’t. We can keep him inside more but like I said he runs super fast and it’s kind of impossible. We tried spraying him with water and that didn’t work. I could put a child gate at the top of the stairs but he would probably jump it. Feliway and other mood enhancer type stuff doesn’t work on him. Any ideas?

We cleaned it all out last summer and thought he would stop because we threw almost everything out from the attic. I like that he can shelter in the garage attic, so I don’t mind he goes there except the poop issue. It has stairs and is a nice attic for a garage. Do I just give up and put a litter box up there? One more thing for mom to do? It’s a bitter topic because DH said he would help when we got the cat and has maybe scooped it 10 times in the 5 years we’ve had him.

[mustardseed2007]

Can you put a litter box in the garage on the ground floor so you won’t have to climb to clean it?

I have one older cat whose bathroom issues are becoming a serious problem, so I really feel you on this and don’t have great advice at all.