How would I go about getting my cats to stop using the litterbox?

Did you try putting a box outside? Preparing a digging area for them outside?

Move it toward the door slowly, just a few inches a day. At some point, you can set it outside – and then, I’d just leave it for a few days. Knowing cats, they’ll find other options when the litterbox isn’t being cleaned. It’s unlikely that they’d go back to the clothes at that point. Not impossible.

Are you going to be moving them back into a city eventually? If so, you might consider leaving things as they are. It might be easier to teach them to avoid the litterbox now than to teach them to start using it again later.

Train them to use the toilet.

Teach them to use the toilet.

Charlie Mingus will teach you how.

And yes, I mean Charlie Mingus the Jazz Hall of Fame member, Grammy Lifetime Achievement honoree, and Guggenheim fellow Charlie Mingus!

Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program

Just put the litter box outside in a covered area

That still means I have to clean the box and buy litter.

I want them to do their thing in dirt.

I think it’s so adorable that after having had cats all this time that you still think that you can bend them to your will :) But seriously, I have a question for you.

Do they only use the litter box for pooping and do their peeing outside or do they still use the box for both?

Our cats were similar, but it’s because there are so many other cats around our neighborhood. Once they realized that most of the other cats are friendly and won’t bother trying to get in fights, they became comfortable going outside.

Have you noticed many other cats around? There’s a high chance your cats haven’t claimed their own territory yet, so they just don’t feel like there’s anywhere safe to go outside (since other cats and animals can and do smell where they use the bathroom). Also, you still might might to consider keeping a litter box if they sleep inside – unless they have a cat door, then it’s not an issue at all.

One thing you could try is taking some of their dirty litter and placing it somewhere outdoors you’re comfortable with becoming a toilet. It’ll inspire them to use that specific spot.

Hmm.
If you tried moving the litterbox and that didn’t work, have you tried mixing dirt into the litter? Yard dirt, not potting soil. Mole mounds would be perfect to collect dirt that will mix in. Add about the same amount of dirt as what you scoop in poop.
I think eventually the cats will associate the dirt smell with poop and go outside, or the litterbox will be rank enough they won’t use it.

Use in combination with @longgone‘s moving the box slowly to the door/outside.

I’d also start flipping the scooped poop out into the yard. Cats aren’t stupid…they’re just…cats.

Alternately, have you considered getting/borrowing/babysitting a dog, that would just eat the cat crap?
J/K!

Keep a litter box inside until they start to go outside to do their business. To get them to poop outside, dispose of their litter box poop (and pee infused litter) outside in the dirt where you want them to go. Pick a spot outside, like under the eaves of the house, where the dirt is dry, soft, and easily dug up by their paws.

Cats can be very stubborn. I suggest that you just be patient and eventually your cats will accept the concept of pooping outside. One of my cats took 2½ years to start using the cat door to go in and outside.

Also consider yourself lucky that they use the cat box. My 16 year old cat has recently decided that she does not need to use the cat box or go outside to poop. She poops wherever she pleases. She is in poor health so I’m very tolerant. I adjust to her behavior by placing newspapers around her latest popping places and quickly clean and sanitize the area whenever she generates a BM.

Good luck!

If they wear flea repellent and they are in an area where they’re not going to get hit by cars, why don’t you leave them out for hours at a time so they’ll have little choice but to use the dirt?

Make sure you’re around so if there’s an emergency, you are there to help out (dogs, other animals).

I leave my cats out when I’m home, but I’ll let them in if it’s too hot or too cold. I also keep them in always at night and always when I’m not home.

I always say they like me to play doorman, meaning as long as I’m willing, they’ll have me opening the door so they can come and go, in out in out in out.

My cats have always done the same thing. They are now, strictly indoors again after my move last week and will remain so for many months. I have had homes and lived on property for years and for many years I kept the litter box in the garage and they accessed it at night via the kitty door from the kitchen into the garage. I witnessed them on many occasions running into the garage to take a crap when they had 5 acres or more to go on. Cars are creatures of habit and that’s just the way it is.

Put the box back, either inside or out, or out it in the garage and install a cat door.

Damn, Fluther has changed. The last time I asked about cats was when my cat got skunked and I was told I shouldn’t own pets because I let my cat outside. I’m personally responsible for all the bird deaths in my area. ~