I didn't know till recently that cats' misbehaviors like eliminating in places other than litter boxes often have a lot to do with cat litter boxes themselves.

What about litter boxes makes cats want to do their business somewhere else? (By the way, these are not really "misbehaviors" from cats' point of view. Their behaviors make totally sense to the cats...)

According to John C. Wright Ph.D., the author of Is Your Cat Crazy? Solutions from the Casebook of a Cat Therapist, cats demand certain criteria be met before they will comfortably eliminate in a cat litterbox:

Cleanliness, privacy, and escape potential.

It's important to clean the cat litter box regularly - ideally, every day. Unless it's clean, the cat may eliminate somewhere else in the house such as on the bed or sofa. Also, every cat seems to have likes and dislikes about texture, granularity, and coarseness of litter types. If your cat doesn't like the litter he/she is using right now, try using different brands until you find something your cats like.

Where to put the cat litter box seems to make a big difference, too. In general, the litter-box should be placed away from your cat's sleeping, feeding, and playing locations. The location of the box should also provide both privacy (such as screening with plants) and good view of the surroundings (so that the cat can escape in a hurry in case something alarms him/her).

Although our cat doesn't have any litter box problems, after I learned new things about litter boxes, I had to go check the location of the box we put in. I am satisfied with the spot, and obviously so is our cat!