Puppy & older cat

Question
I hope that you can help. I have a 12yo shy Himalayan, very limited interaction with humans/pets. 2 wks ago, someone at work wanted to give away her 8mo Pekingese & impulsively I took her home. She's fixed.  She's a delight. Main concern-my cat.  I thought the puppy could be good company for the cat since I'm away at work approx 10-12 hrs.So far, I keep the cat in the basement, dog upstairs in kitchen while I'm away. The cat is used to staying in the kitchen. I've tried holding the cat in the kitchen while the dog runs around & yelps. The cat clings to me, frightened. The dog just wants to check out the cat. I've tried to keep the dog in the crate while the cat can run freely in the kitchen. The cat pretty much stays at my side which he's never ever done.  I now have to carry him upstairs so he can spend time with me while the dog is downstairs.  Also, I noticed my cat seems skinnier. He's never been fat but he does feel slighter & not eating as much of his dry food. If I mix can food with his dry food, he eats more. Did I do the wrong thing by bringing a puppy into the home? I really love the puppy at this point but I don't want for my cat to be unhappy.  Also, re: dog. I've read other answers on housebreaking.  How long should the dog be crated?  I've let her loose while I'm at work using the puppy pads but she pees on the pads & sometimes poops also on the pads but more often poops on the floor. I've been walking her outdoors & would like for her to just go outdoors & get rid of the pads. When I take her in other areas of the house, she has also peed & pooped on the carpet/wood floor.  Any suggestions appreciated.

Answer
Cats can be very funny with new things,but the good thing with cats is that they can hide,usually in time they adjust and in some cases become best friends,but i think in your case it will be more tolerance than anything else-and when animals are stressed they tend to lose weight,esp if they are also not eating.It's more of a matter of time,it can take cats esp older cats a while to adjust but they will

Now,as for crating as far as hours,dogs can be crated for as long as 14 hours without any problems,so if you want to crate her when you are at work,that will be ok as well.Now if you want to use puppy pads it will work better if you use a puppy pen-the less area they have to walk the better,as they may 'lose' the pads and while looking for them,may make accidents.It usually takes a good 3-5 weeks to house train a puppy,so confine her for at least three weeks and slowly let her out more-if accident happen,back i the crate/puppy pen she goes for another week.