Hi all, first kitten never had a cat before

Marty is a feral kitten I rescued back in May, the mother cat abandoned 2 kittens and the coyote took Marty's sister or brother.

I've always been a dog person, never ever thought in a million years  I would have a cat, picture to follow

Marty was about 4 wks old when I rescued him, I kept him in one of those storage cubes (the ones with lots of holes!)  I wasn't going to keep him but the shelters here are all full and the other place just puts them down.

What to do ?  What to do with this kitten? This kitten just kept poo-ing, I kept washing the blankets from his box, cut up old T-shirts etc. for his comfort.

 Somehow I started to love Marty and I knew I couldn't give him up.

Talked to a gal up at Walmart, I was hunting for kitten milk & she educated me abit about cats & that the cat & dog would get along.

Marty lived in his storage cube for about 3 mo.,there was plenty of room for him & his food and water but then he got too big.

I made a make do litter box out of a post office flat rate box. He took to that first time

I slowly introduced him to my dog a border collie.

I took him outside with me for about a month when he was smaller, I work outside so I could keep an eye on him, anytime he heard a noise he'd run back into the greenhouse where I was. He loved the plastic pot I threaded with twine and hung it up so he could bat it back n forth.

I took Marty to the vet about 2 mo. ago, the vet discovered he had 8 toes on each paw, I wouldn't of known, I thought his paws were supposed to look that that, I never looked at his toes, he vet also asked me to bring a stool sample, which I did, they called me later to tell me it was urine. I thought those big clumps were poo.

I ordered one of those cat play cage thingy's, back in June which I only put together about a month ago, heavy & hard to put together

I decided one day to just let Marty down on the floor, I was glad he got along with my dog.

Marty was neutered past week and had his extra toes removed, he's doing good and is a holy terror.

Marty and my dog drive me crazy now, which was once a quiet house has turned a little insane with Marty and my dog running all over the place.

Marty jumps up on everything, the squirting with water....he could care less, this cat does not know what NO means! I cannot seem to keep him off the counters, I hope he outgrows this being he was just neutered and maybe those hormones are leaving his body

It seems there is no use buying cat toys, Marty likes dumb toys, plastic grocery bags, the milk bottle circle, chewing my shoelaces, starring into the toilet as it flushes, he never misses that its as if his favorite TV show is on, running bath water is amazing to him, he already fell in a bubble bath.

I took a bath last night and damn him, he had to put his paw in the water, I saw a little blood and I guess that glue on his toe surgery was coming loose, the bleeding stopped on that, thank God, he wasn't going for that litter the vet gave me "yesterdays news" those things that look like twigs, he thought New Toys! so I had to mix some of that with litter so he'd go in the litter box.

Well guys, I'm sorta a novice with a cat, its time for flea med, I was searching on that and read I could use my dogs frontline, I haven't done that yet, I read some do and some don't, I bought some Hartz stuff but I'm going to return that, besides I purchased the wrong size maybe that was a Godsend that I didn't use it.

I don't know if I will let Marty outside, there are Ferals around & I'm afraid he may follow them or get into a fight, he's not street wise.  He would need the additional vaccine for Leukemia The highway is about 100 ft. away, I live in the woods and I'm sure that'd be more interesting to him, my dog is fenced in but that doesn't matter with a cat, I just think about that highway & him getting hit. The hard part is always remembering to put Marty in the bedroom when I let my dog out.

I let Marty run around the house a couple times a day, then I put him in the bedroom or in his play thing when I'm not around. He does get put in the bedroom when he has driven me nuts to the max.

I liked this site because it was more colorful, I haven't read many posts, I know this is long , that's my story with Marty so far, I hope to be back as soon as I can. Thanks

Oh, is there a way to get rid of the ads?

Hi and welcome to TCS! Thanks for rescuing Marty. He sounds like a rambunctious kitten, which is fairly typical for kittens his age. He will settle down as he gets older (and hopefully wiser).

The dosage is different for cats (especially for kittens) for flea meds, so please be careful with the dog Frontline. And glad to hear you are returning the Hartz as OTC meds, especially Hartz, have been known to cause severe issues and even death.

As for letting him outside, he would lead a much safer and longer life as an indoor kitty. There are so many dangers outside for cats, some of which you've already mentioned.

Hi Marty2  (and Marty kitten!).  So glad you have a whirlwind of joy on your hands!

I've just done 3 years with my first kitten - we had cats in our family, but this is my first cat as an adult.  Boy there was a lot to learn, and a lot of 'old fashioned' ideas that didn't work - like your water spray experience - (or were damaging and I had to learn that too!)  We are now a 2 cat family, with another 7 month kitten - probably about the same age as yours.  

In my learning, I found the best site to answer every question, every issue, and even provide a cats 911 manual.  It is invaluable!  (This is a great site too of course, but the formats are different).  Anyway, the lady who writes this has an amazing understanding of cat psyche and she has helped me muchly - here's the link to her 911 e-book http://www.wayofcats.com/ebooks/   It is really a nicely condensed version of everything she blogs about - so of course you don't have to buy the book if you are happy to browse through all of her posts, which I did, and then because her writing provided so much help for me, I also bought the e-book as a 'thankyou' (hence I know it is very reader-friendly, and you can flick to a 'problem' very quickly to find the solution).  My own blog might also have some more equipment based ideas (a lot home-made) for a cat newbie, given we have just gone through the new cat thing again (see my signature).

As to flea meds, not sure about your country, but Frontline over here in Australia is for cats, or for dogs - 2 DIFFERENT products, because cats have a different system to dogs and a lot of safe dog products are toxic (and deadly) to cats.  So I'd double check the instructions and if it is just for 'pets', then don't use it.  It needs to say for cats.  And of course you are right, the dosage has to be correct to their weight.  Here's a big of info on flea med poisoning in cats if youre interested: http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/neurological/c_ct_pyrethrin_pyrethroid_toxicity#.Ui2wlMbI2So.  I also do a bit on cat poisons on my blog because it can be surprising!

Glad you are thinking about indoor vs outdoor...I'm also an indoor advocate as cats live longer and healthier indoors.  Having said that, there are ways to give them some safe outdoors - you could build a catio, or an enclosed meshed-in bit of the outdoors.  Harness training for outdoor walks may also interest you.

Anyway, hello, welcome, and keep enjoying Marty!  

I'll leave you with a couple pages of that blog that I found so helpful:

1.  You'll be into adolescence for the next couple years, and that can be a challenging time as your kitten grows up.http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/keeping-kittens-cuddly/10582  and http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/early-adolescence/233

2.  As you know dogs a bit better than cats at the moment.... here's some clues into the cat, and some common kitten mistakes http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/first-cat-avoid-beginner-mistakes/3863

Best wishes!