new kitten is home, now bunch questions

Just came home with our new kitten. It's 8 week old baby, the shelter gave me an old pillow case to put his in to keep him calm in the car ride. It worked out great! I was being brave and let our resident cat Tiki smelled pillow case with him in it before I put the little one in separate room. Tiki seems to be very interested - no sign of alarm, flat ear, etc. New kitten is particularly calm when I gave him Tiki's favorite blanket to sleep on. I wonder this will just be the easiest introduction ever when we finally let them meet?

This shelter is not as well equipped as the last one - so medical record on the kitten is not as complete. All it has is the following:
1) "STRONGID 5/3/03 and 5/10/03" I forgot what the adoption person explained to me. What is this?
2) "FIV/FELV - " I think this means FIV/FELV tested negative?

The new kitten has huge ears with a lot of hair coming out But it's a bit dirty inside. When I use a damp soft wipe to clean it a bit - the wipe is pretty soiled - look like dirt. Does this mean the kitten may have ear mites? If so, will it get spread to my resident cat through me although they are not meeting in person?

The kitten seems to be quite itchy - may be flea. I give Tiki frontline treatment. What should I buy for the kitten?

Shelter told me the kitten needs to have more shots but he is too little to get them done by time of adoption. What are the other shots he needs to have. When I adopted my last cat last fall - her record shows DISTEMPER (twice), BORDELTELL, RABIES, REVOLUTION, EAR CLEAN, NAIL TRIMMED, FLEA FREE and SPAY. When can the kitten be neutered? What vaccination /cleaning on this list should I make sure he will get within the next few days. What other test I should make sure he get?

Thank you for your advise in advance!

for introducing I would switch what each cat is sleeping on every couple days that way they get used to there sent. What is really helping with my cats is i have been misting my hands with perfume letting them dry and then petting them. So all the cats smell like me once i did that there was no more hissing!
sounds like the baby has ear mites. Does it look like coffee? I would take the kitten to the vet for a check up. Bring the paper work with you and they can look it over. Also bring a stool sample because the kitty might need to be wormed.
I wouldn't give it anything for fleas just yet. Maybe try combing it with a flea comb to see if it has any. That would be another thing to ask the vet about. Alot of the over the counter flea meds really aren't good kittens and can hurt them.
Good luck with your baby!!!!

First I would make an appointment with your vet and give your new baby a checkup. S/he can let you know for sure if there are ear mites or not. They will also set up appointments for the additional shots he will need. I recomend that you neuter him between 5 and 6 months.

I believe Strongid is for tape worms and he has been treated for it. Fleas are the most common way to get tape worms so a flea treatment is in order. Your vet can recomend the best treatment for this as well.

I hope you keep us informed as to how your new baby is doing and send lots of photos!

Congrats on your new kitten! We just got our new kitten Sunday, but she's a little older than yours (11 weeks).

I agree, I would make a vet appointment and take it from there. I was told to keep Charm (our new kitten) in a seperate room for at least 10 days - in case any type of illness would crop up. That way our other 2 cats wouldn't get infected - and vice-versa, we don't want either of them giving her anything.

Also, I was told we couldn't get a rabies shot for Charm just yet. I think she gets it next month, though.

We'll have to compare notes on our little ones - I'm sure we'll have a lot of the same questions.

Best of luck to you.

I can recommend a great book for you. Complete Kitten Care by Amy Shojai. You can order it through Amazon.com It is very GOOD!

Thank you all for sharing my excitement and sharing your experience Now before I can get the kitten seen by the vet (it usually takes a week or two to fit into the schedule) and before the book arrives, is it safe to let the cats share blankets and have us petting both of them? That is - if kitten has ear mites or other disease, can that be transimtted to Tiki via blanket or us?

hmmmmm I might hold off on the switch blakents until you get kitten into the vet! I would wash my hands after petting the new kitten. Hopefully the vet will be able to get you in alittle sooner since i'm sure earmites are ichey! Good luck with the new kitten!!

I agree with Princess Purr. I wouldn't do any switching of blankets before seeing the vet. Also, I would wash my hands after touching the new kitten as well as after touching your other one before playing with the kitten again.

Also, I've heard that ear mites are very contagious.

I just ordered the kitten book yesterday - Thanks for the info, Hissy.

I found a vet who was able to see the new kitten earlier this afternoon - hope the wide open availability does not imply quality issue Kitten got some fleas, but no ear mites (just dirty ears...) The vet wasn't able to get a sample. And the stuff I cleaned out yesterday was more like fine dirt mixed with ear wax, no coffee ground looking things...

The vet was worried about the little one still have worms because of his pot belly. But the stool test is negative. The vet gave him a de-worming pill anyway to make sure. I guess if I don't see dead worms in the poop within the next day or so, we are home free.

Sounds like all went pretty well. That's good news!

If you're at all like me, I tend to worry about every little thing that goes wrong with a new cat or kitten.

Wishing you the best!

Since Tiki (resident cat) didn't seem to give out negative signals when she sniffed my sweater and the pillow case Tigger (the kitten) slept on. And she has been very interested in Tigger by sitting outside the room. I brought Tigger into living room to see Tiki - Tiki growled and growled if Tigger and me are 1-2 feet away from her. Otherwise she just cautiously watching. My husband did the same thing in the kitchen where Tiki's bowl is. Tiki hissed this time.

So I guess we are back to square one? And back to the blanket sniffering and sharing? Now that when Tiki smells me after I just held Tigger, she would growl. Also she refuse to eat her favorite treats on the pillowcase Tigger slept on.

Is this normal or is Tiki being particularly difficult? Just surprises me so much since she seems to be so calm before she lock eyes with Tigger. BTW - Tigger is just the sweetest purring box - I think he wants to be friends with Tiki right away if she lets it.

Just take it gradual and you should be fine. Cats will growl and hiss that is typical when they see another cat they do not recognize. Start feeding your resident cat on top of the blanket with the shared scents. Just put the food right on top of the blanket (no bowl) That helps.