Introducing kittens to kittens: Help please!

(Another long post... sowwy! )

I'm trying not to get too caught up in Joni plans since it's 10 days until she's home so I'm sort of torturing myself, but I did want to ask your advice since this is brand spankin' new for me!

Should I follow the normal, slow introduction process? Keep them apart, transfer scents, meet through a door, supervised intro for a few minutes, and so on over several days? Or, since they're kittens, do you think I can skip ahead a bit and begin with supervised "checking each other out" time?

I'm going to try and get a vet appointment Friday afternoon after I get her so I can take her home and get things rolling. If I can't get one, she'll be apart from them at least her first night since she's been living with an indoor/outdoor dog and I also (not to be judgmental, but...) don't know the circumstances she grew up in at her mama's house before my friend got her. She's had no shots just yet. I just want to make sure everything's okay and my boys will stay healthy after she comes in.

Once they're introduced, how should I proceed with things like litterbox, mealtime, playtime?

At night, she'll stay in the bedroom with me until I feel like things are okay between them, but as selfish as it sounds, when S&G first arrived and they were in the safe room aka my bedroom, I ended up sleeping on the couch and barely clocked 3 or 4 hours of sleep for three nights straight. I'm more than willing to do anything needed, but it will just suck to have kittens bugging me and attacking my face no matter where I try to sleep! In my bed, it'll be Joni, out on the couch, it'll be the boys!

If we play with a wand toy, will it be okay to have them all three play together? Should she get a separate feeding station at first?

Do you think I'll be able to tell, sort of intuitively, if they accept her? What behaviors should I look for, either positive or negative? I was thinking about grooming, but it's not always a sign of affection and can be a sign of domination - so I'm not sure if that will be reliable. Even with my bosom buddy boys, it's hard to tell sometimes if the fighting/wrestling is play, so I'm worried I won't be able to gauge if I should intervene.

Clearly, my mind is "going a mile an hour" as Michael Scott would say So much for not getting caught up. Any advice you could provide, as well as "calm yo'sef, woman!" vibes, would be awesome.



Thanks as always!
-Anna & kittens

Change of plans - the only vet appointment I could get was Friday morning at 9am, so I'm getting her Thursday night and she'll stay in the bedroom until she gets home from the vet Friday. They're going to do an exam, distemper, and FeLV test. Hoping she doesn't have any mites to deal with like the boys did. Anyway, so they'll be apart at first.

It depends on the age of the kittens.

I've introduced 10-week-olds to each other, and it took them about 24 hours to fully adapt. Younger than that, it'll be faster; older than that, slower. Once they hit 6 months and 'puberty', I'd treat them as adults for acclimation purposes.

Definitely keep her separated until you've gotten her to the vet. (I'm SO glad you're not waiting as long to bring her home!!) After she's checked out at the vet, I'd leave her separated for a few days until she's recovered from the testing and shots (she may be very sleepy for a day) and until she's comfortable with you and comfortable in your home. Then, I'd say start the intros. I wouldn't leave her out with the boys while you're gone until you know they're not going to kill each other if left unsupervised. Otherwise, she'll probably be fine with them in just a few days with supervision while you're home and awake and then back in the bathroom or wherever you're keeping her at night. I think since they're all generally about the same age, the intros will go easily and she'll be assimilated into your home quickly. I know she'll enjoy the company of the other kitties, the attention from you, and the interaction with toys.