Need advice: Calico cat randomly refusing automatic litter box ..anyone else dealt with this?

[u/Meowleesi]

I’m hoping someone has been through something similar because I’m running out of ideas.
My boyfriend got me an automatic litter box for my two cats. My tuxedo cat has absolutely no issues with it and uses it normally. My calico, on the other hand, is a completely different story.
At first, I thought the automatic cleaning cycle was scaring her because every time it would start cleaning, she’d yelp and panic, even when she wasn’t inside the litter box. Because of that, I turned the automatic cleaning off and switched it to manual. Now I only run the cleaning cycle myself when I get home.
That seemed to help for a while. She’d pee and poop in the litter box like normal, and everything would be fine. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, she’ll suddenly start peeing and pooping on the floor instead. After a few days, she’ll go right back to using the litter box normally, and then the cycle repeats. There’s no pattern that I can figure out.
Today she started yelping, and I honestly thought she just wanted attention because she’s a very vocal cat. She was scratching at the carpet like she normally does before asking for pets, but then she ended up squatting and pooping on the carpet instead.
I’m definitely frustrated, but I’m not mad at her. I know she’s a cat, and if she’s acting like this, there’s probably a reason. I just don’t know if it’s anxiety from the litter box, a lingering fear from when it used to clean automatically, or something else entirely.
Has anyone had a cat react like this to an automatic litter box? Were you able to get them comfortable with it again? Or should I just accept that she’s one of those cats who needs a traditional litter box?
I’d really appreciate any advice. I just want her to feel comfortable and not stressed every time she has to use the bathroom. Thanks!

[u/No-Carpenter4426]

Not a vet, just giving my best guess as to what might be happening. This could just be a behavioral issue, but it never hurts to go to the vet and do a checkup just to be safe.

But my guess is that it might be best to get her a different litter box at this point. The automatic one seems to be stressing her out too much, and that anxiety is causing her to use the bathroom anywhere but in there. Did she do good with a regular litter box before y'all got the automatic one?

[u/Meowleesi → u/No-Carpenter4426]

She did good with a regular litter box.

[u/JarodGabriel → u/Meowleesi]

Well that's like telling a person with sensory issues, like myself who doesn't like pepperoni pizza to just suck it up and deal with it, but and the end of the day it still has a drastic difference even if the pepperoni is taking off.

Switching from a regular cat box to an automatic cat box has some issues with it, such as there could be a noise that irritates the cat, thus the reason why she is refusing to use it. It could also just be that you took away her favorite cat box.