If you want a house-trained cat, you need to focus your energy training its habits to an indoor lifestyle. Find the right type of litter box for your cat and keep it in an area, preferably quiet and secluded, where the cat will be comfortable using it. If the cat doesn't take to it right away, try a different litter or move it to a different area. Once you have trained it to use a litter box, any house soiling that occurs will usually indicate a health problem or confusion based on changes you've made to your living space. When training a cat to use the litter box, one must practice patience. Having a cat that doesn't pick it up the first few times is no reason to give up on the house-training process.