Bad potty habits forming

I have a 4 year old male nurtured cat. Until about 4 months ago he went in his litter box. The litter box is a hooded one. He now urinates on throw rugs and he has bowel movements in the middle of kitchen floor.I keep the litter clean and smelling fresh. He uses this box with another cat, that he has been with all his life. I thought maybe that something scared him while in the box, so now I leave the top off of it. He still does his business wherever he wants. He has been to the vet and doesn’t have a UTI. Any suggestions?

 

Answer from Dr. Gaylord Brown:
This is typically a sign of anxiety, so try to figure out what has changed in this cat’s life over the last four months. The use of Feline Appeasement Pheromones, available from your veterinarian, may help. alternatively, hormone therapy with progesterone can help. Also the use of anti-anxiety medications can prove beneficial in some cats. You may also want to consider an animal communicator to find out the source of the anxiety.