Introducing new Kitten to 1 cat apartment

Hi,

I just read the sticky you guys have and it has some good info but I read it too late, and was wondering what to do to repair the possible damage we might've caused...

New comer is an 8 week old Kitten (female)
Resident is 4 year old indoor cat, neutered

BTW, we haven't taken the kitten to the vet yet, I figured she hasn't been outside or anyting like that ever so probably nothing wrong with her?... bad assumption? We've also never taken the adult cat to the vet besides the nutering part... we got him when he was about 5 months old.. he was a stray and the person that gave him to us said he had his shots, but who knows... He's never had any problems, I think he had one bladder infection at some point. Also fleas once, that was a pain, but we took care of it.

Here's what we've done so far with them.

Put the kitten in our bedroom with its own food and litter and all that... Our old cat probably suspected something, since he couldn't go in there anymore, but what you gonna do, we only have 2 rooms besides the living room.

Ok, so we tried to get the old cat aquainted with the new cats smell.. brought out the cat carrier she was in (not the plastic ones, but a nicer one with furry bottom or whatever). He got in there (never does on his own) smelled around for a while.. got back out, didn't really do anythign wierd. I tried to get him a couple of other things of hers, once again, didn't really pay much attention, (perhaps not enough scent on there?)

Sun night we figured we'd give it a shot, but he's so big and she's so tiny I didn't want to do a face to face thign.. so we put her in the cat carrier and brought her out a little, outside the door to oru bedroom. He went up, smelled all that.. did a couple of hisses... she hissed back a little... but on a couple of occasions he attacked the carrier.. the front door where she was at. So thats no good...

We were thinking of maybe having "visiting hours" where we put here in there and then he can come by... we did this today for a while... and he came up.. did some meows, then leaves, then comes back same deal.. occasionaly he attacks the door we say no, then he takes off.

So now I read the stuff you have in that sticky and it suggests that we did this WAY too soon...

My main question is it too late now.. did we screw up the process, or can we just extend the "smell eachother but not see eachother" period for like 2 weeks or so?.. shoudl we move the Kitten to the other room where he doesn't go too often?.. would he feel pissed off that she's in the bedroom with us at night and he cant' come in?

And when will we know its the "right" time to let them meet without the carrier, cause he's so big that I think one swipe could finish her off before we could do anything to stop him...

Also is it imperative that we take them to the vet now to get all the stuff done?

Side Question:

The little one bites a lot... obviously she's playfull as h eck.. I read that she should not be allowed to bite hands.. is that really a big deal? .. I dont' mind it, and my gf doesn't care.. I feel bad for saying NO to a little kitten thats' only trying to have some fun...

Thats about it, any help would be awesome! We'd like these 2 to get a long, I'd have to have to take the kitten back cause she is very cool!

You can do the introduction all over again now that you know what to do. Don't forget to try the vanilla trick or the exchange-towels trick.
About biting your hand/fingers, it is fun now that she is still a kitten but you may be sorry once she is full grown and stronger with adult teeth. Play with her using toys instead. If saying NO bothers you, just stop playing with her the moment she starts biting. She will realize after a while that there's no fun nibbling on human flesh.

Originally Posted by yayi

You can do the introduction all over again now that you know what to do. Don't forget to try the vanilla trick or the exchange-towels trick.

About biting your hand/fingers, it is fun now that she is still a kitten but you may be sorry once she is full grown and stronger with adult teeth. Play with her using toys instead. If saying NO bothers you, just stop playing with her the moment she starts biting. She will realize after a while that there's no fun nibbling on human flesh.

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Thanks for the info! Do you feel I should probably take them both to the vet asap before they are formaly intruduced without a cat carrier involved?

Also how old does the kitten have to be before I can get her fixed?