You go to check the litter box and your cat has eliminated outside of it – again! Or you are walking around your house and find an unwanted “accident” somewhere. What is going on?!
Your cat is trying to communicate something to you with this behavior. Cats are instinct-driven to use the litter box. When they do not, it is because they associate it with pain (often the case in health issues) or because they have responded to something upsetting in their environment this way and are attempting to tell you of their unhappiness.
The following document from the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the Cornell Feline Health Center goes in depth on the issue of feline inappropriate elimination to discuss the causes, and what you can do to address it.
Inappropriate-Elimination