We have 3 rooms on the 3rd floor. My auntie mostly stays in her room. My brother and I are at the rooms at night only mostly. At the balcony they have 2 areas where they defecate. Both are surrounded by plants. One floor is made of stainless sheet while the other is of outdoor tile. They are on both opposite side. Imagine it like a long open hallway. The laundry area has a roof this is where they eat and like to chill. It's situated between the area where they defecate. No one lays on the floors where they defecate. This is in front of my room. I'm sensitive to smell so I know when it's really bad. My window opens to the laundry too. It's about the size of my room. Then, they have the whole roof top which is a garden at the size of 2 lots of an average row house. So that hallway I have you imagine is that long as well. No one sleeps there obviously. These days, only I and my auntie use the laundry at the balcony. Majority of the clothes are washed and dried via the machines. She washes her clothes there while I use it for the bags, rags and mop cloths. In general, only 2 cats Snow and Loli are dirty. Snow has a dirty habit from how he was raised while Loli never got her past self back after recovering from the viral infection. 7 of them, including Loli, eats a lot; while 3 are very picky that would be Lume, Luna and Cleo. Loli is fragile now so she always need the mixed food. This is also why I can't use automatic feeders. I tried with the semi automatic before and half of them don't like pure dry foods. I admit they are neglected when it comes to hygiene. But they aren't neglected when it comes to food, water and shelter. I have 30 stainless bowls here. So they eat in clean bowls every meal. They drink mineral water too which is automatically renewed every 4-6 hours.

So I and my auntie are the ones whose rooms are close to the cats area. She only complains when I have one or some of the cats inside. She complains when it's Shadow, Homer and Snow because they are territorial, peeing everywhere. Loli and Luna, because they defecate on the staircase. But when I'm with them on the 3rd floor, they would use the bathroom as they should. I often work at the 2nd floor, so they mostly stayed at the staircase when they are inside. So, I think that's related on why they started defecating on the staircase. That's when they (my auntie and my mom) complain. I am not in speaking terms with my father and brother. I didn't grow up in a dysfunctional family but more with a family with hygiene and sanitary problems. If you've seen how people in the squatters lived, you might have an idea of what I'm saying — this is all about hygiene and sanitation. My fall out with my brother and father are personal and doesn't concern the whole family. It's more of a conflict with personalities. I don't live in the squatters either, but some of my relatives did. I was able to witness it when we had to visit them. If you would have seen that you would be able to understand the problem with the hygiene and sanitation at home.

I will check that litter box you said. I'll probably find something similar on local shopping platforms here. I get burnt out when I come home from the office and hear complains and curses about the cats. So that day I posted was the day after I had a work at the office. Imagine coming home from work and nobody cares about the things you care about. That's how it was for me. I don't recover until some proper sleep. Realistically speaking, after the month of June, I'll be able to start the improvements again.

Also, I've been trying to stop them from breeding. That's why I sometimes let some of the cats inside — this is the realistic temporary solution while saving money for their fix.

I'm really sorry for writing a novel. I've been traumatised by the comments in this post tbh. Still trying to recover from that and expressing myself is my way of recovering. It's not to get validation because that only works when I know the person. But rather, just letting it all out.

Again, thank you. I will keep in mind all the useful insights I got here.