9 week old kittens

[halpplease]

Well they are just 15 weeks. They might not be fully potty trained. 9 weeks is too early to be leaving mom; it should have been 12 weeks. So even if he started of decent at it, the lesson might not have been solidified.

Many of the things you have listed him using seem pretty litter box adjacent, in the eyes of a kitten anyway. (Basket and box)
So that really hints to me that he is not yet fully litter trained.

My friend adopted a kitten too young too and she needed to put a spare litter in every room of her house for the first few months.

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I always thought that kittens could leave mum from 8 weeks, otherwise I definitely would have left them there for longer. He's much clingier than his sister. His sister is affectionate but doesn't get so upset if she doesn't get it.

He's used litter box adjacent items but also soft surfaces like my bed and my fleecy muumuu.

He seems to know where the litter box is and I thought he was just doing all this out of acting up, so I haven't bought litter attractant. He watches and follows me every time I clean their litter box.

 

[Alldara]

I always thought that kittens could leave mum from 8 weeks, otherwise I definitely would have left them there for longer. He's much clingier than his sister. His sister is affectionate but doesn't get so upset if she doesn't get it.

He's used litter box adjacent items but also soft surfaces like my bed and my fleecy muumuu.

He seems to know where the litter box is and I thought he was just doing all this out of acting up, so I haven't bought litter attractant. He watches and follows me every time I clean their litter box.

They used to say 8 weeks but the recommend is now 12. Mom cat was likely still cleaning up behind him and he was still in a kitten room where he could potty anywhere. Rescues usually adopt out around 4 months rather than the 2 months some breeders go with. And since he's clingy it really does sound like he was not ready for the separation.

So you've ruled out physical issues which is great!

The next logical one to me is that he's not litter trained. Cats don't usually pee on things to "act up".

 

[halpplease]

They used to say 8 weeks but the recommend is now 12. Mom cat was likely still cleaning up behind him and he was still in a kitten room where he could potty anywhere. Rescues usually adopt out around 4 months rather than the 2 months some breeders go with. And since he's clingy it really does sound like he was not ready for the separation.

So you've ruled out physical issues which is great!

The next logical one to me is that he's not litter trained. Cats don't usually pee on things to "act up".

Some people on here thought it was fic or anxiety related as well. I ordered some zylkene to try help with the separation anxiety for when I'm not there. I guess litter attractant couldn't hurt? I did query collecting the kittens at 9 weeks old with the breeder and said I wasn't in a hurry. She said that mum wasn't interested in them anymore and didn't want them nursing on her.

 

[Alldara]

Some people on here thought it was fic or anxiety related as well. I ordered some zylkene to try help with the separation anxiety for when I'm not there. I guess litter attractant couldn't hurt? I did query collecting the kittens at 9 weeks old with the breeder and said I wasn't in a hurry. She said that mum wasn't interested in them anymore and didn't want them nursing on her.

Unfortunately, it's in a breeders best interest to let them go sooner as then they can move on to a new litter. Even if they aren't still nursing, there's still socializing that the mum does such as showing them where to poo and to burry litter.
It's not your fault and honestly the breeder might be Innocently ignorant to the new timeline. But that's the timeline rescues use now to help stave off behaviours like this.