I have a beautiful huge long-haired black and white cat. When he first entered our lives, he was a kitten about 5-6 months old that walked onto our property, demanded some food, and walked into our house... and refused to leave.
We named him Hunter, because he's a macho cat and deserves a macho name. He's beautiful, and last he was weighed he was about 16 pounds. I think he's gained mass since then.
He has the build and the hair of a Maine Coon, with gorgeous jet black hair and a fluffy white belly and white boots on each foot. When we brought him in, he was talkative, aloof, and ensured that we knew when he wanted attention, and when he wanted left alone.
I don't want to give up my cat.
Hunter is one of a large family of animals. Harley, our dog, and Nym, the maternal leader of the pride, were around long before Hunter reached the scene, but he took over anyhow. Nym is used to adjusting to just about any situation, so she turned over her reins except when he overstepped his bounds.
Life was, for the most part, good. Occasionally there would be a missed litter box, but there wasn't anything serious.
We moved, all was still good. At our new place, another member of the family appeared - this time, in the form of a malnourished siamese who wormed her way into the engine of my car and survived a 30 mile trip to work before I heard her and retrieved her (unharmed!) from the engine. We brought the skinny little girl inside, where she immediately bonded with my large, fuzzy, warm husband. Neither of the existing cats were happy, but Nym adjusted and Hunter finally stopped hissing after a couple of months.
Life was, for the most part, good. We added some extra litter boxes, and the only time we noted accidents was when I was lax in cleaning the boxes.
The last member of our family was a foster kitty that - we thought - got along so well with the rest of the household that we didn't want to let him go. "This is the LAST ONE," we told each other as we signed over the papers. Jade, our shy siamese, blossomed personality-wise with another kitten around. She is more outgoing, more loving, and seems to fear the world a little less with Little John around. Nym, being a fellow tabby to John, seemed to almost adopt him due to their similarities.
Hunter... well, hunter was not pleased. We thought he had gotten used to him (even now, I watch he and John tumble and play gently over in the corner), but a development has occurred that is directly impacting my ability to avoid depression.
Hunter has stopped using the litter box. We've added extra boxes, but Hunter has chosen to use all manner of toilet on the bathroom floor, regardless of the cleanliness of the boxes, regardless of the litter we use. I have a hard time accurately communicating what this does to my mental state. I can't keep a clean house any longer. I see these messes on the floor and get so depressed that I find it hard to keep the rest of the house clean. I don't know why this is, but it's sapping my ability to deal with my home life (which is, for other reasons, already stressful).
I plan to take him to a vet this weekend or next to have him checked over. I know that cats with UTIs or kidney problems will stop using litter boxes because of the pain they associate with proper waste release. I need to ensure that he's not unhealthy, that this isn't the reason behind it, but I do fear that this is his way of rejecting anything that has the other cats' smell in it. I don't have the ability to keep him seperate from the rest of the household, so I feel like I'm at the end of my rope.
It's been my experience that Kossacks are knowledgeable about a variety of things. Hell, we may even have vets here. I'm hoping you can give me some advice. I'm at a loss of what to do with this beautiful cat, if he's completely healthy. He is so loving to the people in this household, but he's always been a bit of a bully to the other cats. He's been fixed (as has the male kitten), so we didn't expect territory to be an issue. I don't want to give up my cat, but of all the animals, he's the one that makes it a point to keep away from the other cats - I have seen none of the bonding that I've seen with the other three.
I would greatly appreciate any help or advice my fellow cat lovers may provide. I've never had this issue in all the years I've kept cats, so I'm at a loss right now.
Update
You've given me a lot of things to think about, a couple of you have teared me up, and most importantly, you've all given me hope that this isn't a dead-end situation.
I need to go to bed, shortly, so I apologize if I don't get to reply to everyone. Thank you so much for your help. I knew I came to the right place. :)