Kitten pooping all over the house

I took in a 12 week old cat, and I trained her in my room to use the kitty box with no problem.

I put the kitty box in the basement and showed her where it is (she spends a lot of time in the basement anyway).

There is also another cat in the house. Sometimes they fight, sometimes they don't.

Now the kitten is going to the bathroom all over the house. I have picked up poop and put it in the kitty box to demonstrate where poop should go.

She won't listen, and I don't know what to do. I have now placed her back up in my room with the kitty box and see if I can retrain her.

For the record, the kitten is so demanding, that she has her own kitty box, food and water bowls. When she was allowed downstairs there were two kitty boxes next to each other, for each cat.

So far my training and raising a cat has failed, and I'm afraid I'm gonna have to get rid of her. Someone please help!

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My thoughts:

First off, thank you for adopting this kitten. Second, it sounds like you've done a lot of things right, so let's look at this a bit more closely.

Assuming the vet says she's healthy, and her problem is behavioral, it's possible that her relationship with the other cat is the issue. Relationships between cats in households can be tricky.

You trained her in a room by herself, which is excellent. But, you didn't say how long you kept her in there and how slowly you introduced her to the resident cat. Introductions need to be done slowly.

Did you create shared positive experiences by feeding the two cats at the same time but on opposite sides of the door?

Did you rub a rag on one cat and then the other and then back to the first again in order to get them used to each other's scents?

Did you allow the two cats to "play under the door" and use a fishing pole or catnip filled toy to let both cats play with the same toy?

Did you swap locations, placing the resident cat in the room and allowing the new cat to explore more of the house by herself? And then swap them back?

If you didn't do a slow introduction, then as you retrain her, make sure you follow all of the steps. The above steps should be done over several days to several weeks, depending upon how it goes.

Then, relocate litter boxes slowly as well.

Let's cover some questions...

Can cats share food and water bowls?

Some cats will share food and water bowls, some cats won't. A good recommendation is to provide separate bowls for each cat in the house, so this isn't unusual.

Can cats share litter boxes?

Some cats will share litter boxes and some cats won't. A solid recommendation for a multi-cat household is the one-plus-one rule. One litter box for each cat in the house, plus one more.

So, you'd have 3 boxes for 2 cats, possibly in multiple locations. This prevents territorial issues and box guarding.

Another recommendation for multi-story houses is to have a litter box on each level of the house, rather than just in the basement, or even just on the main floor.

To reduce stress for both cats, you can try using Feliway and/or Rescue Remedy, and regular play sessions (together and separately).

I hope that helps. Please let us know in the comments what you think and how she's coming along.
-Kurt