We thought Jake litter trained himself

So...........we have a few adjustments to make in our new home. Where the cat food goes - where the water bowl goes - where to put the litter boxes so that Jake & Babers stay out. What we didn't expect was that Jake would train himself to use the litter box. Early on we had a few "he didn't get out fast enough" accidents. There were also a few times that the cats used the floor upstairs - we thought it was to show us they could because the litter was being kept clean. The bright side was that Jake used the basement. While we have the kids play area, extra tv (for the kids) and my craft space down there, still much better to use the concrete floor then the nice wood floor or the new rugs we purchased. So we thought, "could be worse" and tried to be better about getting him outside on time. Then we noticed that the litter box was very very full. We didn't figure two tiny cats could make so much dampness, but the only other thought was Jake - and while Jake is a squatter, still the aim would have to be right on. BigGuy was changing the litter (thank you BigGuy) and came upstairs to say that Jake HAD to be using the cat box because the litter in it was practically floating around. SuperStar was there and she said, "You mean in the basement? Oh, that is SpideyBoy." We just kinda looked at her and she added, "Well, he made me promise not to tell you." (Like that kind of a promise has ever worked for him with her in the past).

BigGuy talked with Spidey and sure enough - he was the one using the litter box. Apparently the eight steps to the bathroom at the top of the stairs were too much and he just walked around the wall I created to use the cat box. This explains why the cats were choosing Not to use the cat box on occassion. The whole thing was much cooler when it was Jake and he had litter trained himself. Spidey is now in recovery.