Middening Can Be Maddening...

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Spraying isn't the only territorial behavior that cats can demonstrate (emphasis on demon). Another form of marking is leaving a strategically placed turd, leaving you to puzzle if it's the litter, his diet, he's sick, or just being a freaking jerk. For safety, it's best to rule out any illness that could contribute to leaving an open turd-- sometimes a cat just needs its Human to see a problem turd, or if there is pain involved with defecating, he may blame the litter box for causing it. Provided all is well with your cat's health, this behavior is called middening, and it's akin to a wild animal leaving a turd in the open in its natural habitat. Ideally, cats like burying their excrement as a form of protection by making their presence harder to detect by prey animals, the same way the mother cat ingests her kittens' excrement; it's a defense mechanism. However, if a cat (usually a male) feels threatened enough, he will display middening, which can be maddening, in an effort to send a clear signal to other animals (usually cats) that this is his territory, and he's not playing around. It's a very serious warning to other animals. For example, anything in its right mind would spot a bear turd in the woods and RUN, never to return! Most likely, middening is due to a stray cat marking or lurking around your property, or introducing a new cat into the home. A few things you can do to thwart this behavior are: try to eliminate the presence of strays, if you've introduced a new house-mate, temporarily segregate them and integrate them slowly by petting one, then the other, to distribute unique scent; mop/clean flooring as best as possible in case you have walked through a territorial marking and brought the scent in, avoid used cat furniture which could smell very threatening, re-start the litter box to make it both fresh and more desirable, lending him to put some marking in there, reassure/pet/interact with your cat to make him feel more confident and happy, and invest in a little catnip or some calming pheromones which can be easily ordered from Amazon or eBay. This situation really stinks for you, but is no different than you adding extra security or locking your doors. Patience, observation, and a little manipulation of HIS environment is key to resolving this frustrating behavior.