Cat is terrified of new kitten..help!

We adopted an 8 month old kitten on Saturday and he's been confined to the office since then and he's adjusted very well to being here. Today for about 2 minutes, the office door was cracked open a tiny bit and my older cat and he sniffed each other...he was very curious and wanted some interaction, but my cat just stared at him, she showed no aggression but she looked like she'd just seen a ghost for about half an hour after we shut the door.

Tonight she was sleeping on the couch and I went in the office to play w/ the kitten, and I was in there for about 15 minutes. My boyfriend said that Coco (old cat) was sitting near the door, staring at it intently, during that time. Then I came out (they had no interaction but she heard him playing) and she's terrified again. It's like she thinks he's a monster that's about to come after her! It's probably pertinent to note that she's 13, and has never been with another cat besides when she was a baby. Could she not understand yet that he's a cat, too?

I have no idea what to do. Do we continue to keep the kitten in the office w/ zero interaction (even though she now knows he's in there) until she gets over her fear? Do we put him in a carrier so she can see/approach him without him seeming threatening? Do we put up a gate in the doorway so they can see each other and she can get used to him being there? I feel awful that she's so scared, she's acting like she's at the vet.

The kitten is a total sweetheart, completely non-aggressive, he came from a foster home w/ many other cats and was very submissive and non-threatening with them, so I'm not really worried about him bullying her.

I would really really appreciate any advice!

I do not know what to tell you.
My almost 17 year old cat sleeps with my new kitten.
How old was she when you had your last cat?

Continue the slow introduction.

Indoor cats who live alone are frequently puzzled about any new cat, and unsure of just how to deal with it.

Use all the tricks you can learn here, just as the application of vanilla, etc.

Thank you. She calmed down and we put a gate up this morning and opened the door for a few minutes...she kept her distance and stared, but this time she hissed a little bit. After that encounter she went back to behaving as normal, so I think her curiosity is overcoming whatever fear she had before.

We plan to take the intro as slowly as necessary. Thankfully last night's incident wasn't something a lot of treats and a little catnip couldn't take care of

Originally Posted by greeneyes86

Thank you. She calmed down and we put a gate up this morning and opened the door for a few minutes...she kept her distance and stared, but this time she hissed a little bit.

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We recently started fostering, and Nova behaved much the way you described your cat. At first, Nova didn't even know there were other cats in the house. When she realized that she wasn't the only kitty, she camped out in front of the door to their room (bathroom and laundry room). After catching glimpses of them, she was very wide-eyed, would make a little sound, and would take off running. Any time she caught more than a glimpse of them, she would hiss. It took her a couple of weeks to get used to the idea of other kitties.

Toward the end of one of our foster's stay with us, Nova started trying to take her toys. They both had the same type of toy ball... so I set one down in front of each, and they saw each other play. Little by little, they started to meow at each other, stick paws under doors, etc. Our foster kitten rolled around on her back and tried to play with Nova through the door. It was very cute.

When our foster kitty left, Nova inspected the bathroom, looked around for her, and cried. We have two more fosters in our restroom now, and Nova is eager to play with them. When they were in our laundry room, she reached under the door and ran off with one of their toys!

It sounds to me as if your introductions are going really well so far. The hissing from your adult cat may have been an assertion of dominance, not necessarily a sign of aggression.

Sending vibes that they get used to each other soon.