new kitten 2 older cats

Question
I Have just bought home our new british girl, we have an 18 month british and a 12 yr old tabby. she is so little and scared ( its her first day ) our boy was hissing and she hissed back an rather than stress them out I placed her in bathroom with her blanket food water and bed. ive read different proceduresfor introducing and I am after some other inputs. how long do i keep them apart , i dont want her to be lonely, i might sleep in spare room tonight w her and our boy can sleep in normal bed w husband?

Answer
Cath,

For the most part, you are using the correct process to introduce the new kitten to the older cats.  Below is advice we give our pet buyers who have established cats:

Start out your new kitten in one room with a litter pan and water dish. Ideally, the one room should be a bedroom with yourself or another human resident. This accomplishes a couple of things. Your new kitten will not be overwhelmed by her new surroundings and get "lost", and thusly will have no problem finding the litter pan (often kittens have been confined and are somewhat daunted by wide open spaces!). You will feed the new kitten in this room and keep the established cats out. It allows the new kitten to bond with you and also build up some self assurance in her new surroundings since she will not have to compete for food or attention right away. Finally, it allows the new kitten and the established cats to sniff each other under the door and get familiar with each others' scents.

After 3-5 days of being in her one room, it is time to let them meet each other. Be prepared for some posturing, some spitting and hissing, and the like. IGNORE IT! After a while, they should begin chasing each other about and still have the occasional hiss or spit as they get accustomed to each other. Cats tend to make a whole lot of noise and even loosen up some fur. Rarely will two cats hurt each other.

Once they are introduced, there are a couple of things you must remember. Do not separate them again, they will get along! Do not interfere in their "discussions" as they need to sort it out amongst themselves!

It does not hurt to give the established cats treats and extra attention after the new kitten is introduced (yes, cats do get jealous!).

A couple of things you may have to do are to feed them on separate dishes. Provide more than one litter pan in different areas of the household (as cats can be very territorial about litter pans).

All, in all, this method seems to have had great success in the past and makes for a fairly smooth introduction. Please remember that they may make up immediately, or it may take a few weeks.

Best regards... Norm.