Kitten peeing in the house

[BeeMyBaby]

A little back explanation, we are in North Africa, we got two kittens about 3 weeks ago and they are about 12 weeks old now, possibly 2 weeks younger.

For the first 2.5weeks they were inside most of the time and I dug dirt from outside for their litter tray. They are improving with their hunting skills so we started leaving them outside over night a few days ago so they would get a chance to catch better prey. About 3 mornings ago I let the kittens back inside in the morning and one of the kittens dashed to the sheepskin and did a huge wee. I washed the rug and moved the cat litter box outside and whenever they were sniffing inside the house I took them to the litter tray. Yesterday morning was fine but this morning when I let them in the house in the morning the same kitten went to my daughters bed and did a huge wee (second kitten is fine).

So, any suggestions of how to stop this? I thought perhaps I could take the kitten to the litter tray in the morning before I let her in to make sure she wees first, but is she actually marking her territory? Plus I'm not sure how to move them on from the litter tray to just using the dirt outside (especially as it's the same thing!).

You can't leave 12 week old kittens outside at night. We don't leave our 1 year old cats out at night! They need to be kept in for their own safety plus shouldn't be outside until they are old enough to be spayed/neutered (4 months is recommended in the uk)

Kittens should be safe inside at night. Sounds like they are really scared. Especially if they are rushing inside and peeing. It sounds like they are scared to do that outside
Also You said they are improving with their hunting skills. Are you feeding them or relying on them getting food outside? How do you know they are catching prey?
That is so young for them to be looking after themselves they are still babies. If they are only 10 weeks old they are only just old enough to have left their mother.
Like the other poster said they should be kept inside until at least 4 months old

I'm in the UK perhaps pet ownership is different in Africa, but my 13 weekers are still confined to one room! They won't be outside until they are spayed and microchipped at 6 months and maybe not at night for a while after. I suspect they are unsettled and trying to make it smell like home

Is this for real?! You got potentially 7 week old kittens and now they are 10-12 weeks and you're putting them outside, all night, in the US where there are many, many natural predators that will kill even an adult cat!?

Your kittens need to live INDOORS at least until they are old enough to be neutered and ideally not go out on their own until they are at least 6-7 months old. Depending on where you live in the US, they would probably be best living exclusively indoors or have a safe catio for outdoor access anyway.

I read North Africa as North America but all the same applies about predators etc.

It's a developing country and they don't neuter them here (I've tried to argue but to no avail, they will likely never go to a vets) and so there is no reason particularly to keep them in doors. She wasn't scared this morning as she came in, milled about her food bowl for a few minutes, then came through to my DCs room.
They get given left overs (chicken, porridge and bits and pieces as there is no cat food) but haven't been interested since they started going out at night which I presume means they are full, and they have good access to fresh running water outside compared to their water bowl inside.
There are no cars here at night, no foxes or anything like that and they have a box which is very high to sleep in.
As it's very different from the uk I guess mumsnet perhaps isn't the best place to find advice for our kittens.

I'm going to try to be diplomatic and just answer your question as I run a cattery and want to help the kitten.
Do you still have the tray inside? They are only used to using the litter box so may not know how to go outside. Cats also wee on soft things when they are stressed or have a urinary infection. Again they may not know how to access the fresh running water so might not be taking enough water on board.
Of course cats can live outside but ones that do are usually brought up outside by their mother and taught how to survive. Just leaving two kittens to their own devices is a different thing.
Cats who are eating dead animals also need to be wormed frequently. If they have swollen bellies they definitely have worms. This may also explain why they aren't eating as much.
Finally keep an eye out for FIP as this could be a sign of that. If there is no vet though I am not sure what you can do.
Finally I would advise keeping them in until 6 months. Then they should be more able to survive outside.
I fear that this won't end well...

Kittens learn to hunt from watching their mother. They are too young to hunt effectively and should be inside especially at night. They are young and very vulnerable. Why did you get kittens if you are just gong to chuck them outside to fend for themselves?

Do they have a spana clinic? they have vets.

Kittens learn to hunt from their mother. They can't be expected to fend for themselves outside without the protection of their mother.

There may be no proprietary cat food but you can still feed them appropriate food by making it yourself.

The kitten who is weeing indoors is probably too afraid to go outside. They are vulnerable when weeing and pooing, so will look to be safe before they do it.

Un neutered cats will have many many kittens, and will also tend to spray urine to mark their territory.

Jeez ive heard it all now, letting tiny kittens outside! They don't have any survival skills or any common sense at that age! I'm sitting here with my 12 week old kitten at the moment and would never dream of letting him out!

Just to say the kittens are settled now and no longer weeing in the house. Yes they go out at night but we have a veranda with a huge gate over our entrance where the shoe rack and pushchair are kept so they are safe and can have a nap in the pushchair if they don't want to wonder around the house. It's a nice temperature at night 18-15c so they are quite comfortable and it's not comparable to the uk. I doubt they have worms as I'm pretty sure lizards and grasshoppers would not have parasites which would survive in a mammals stomach.