Dear Critter Corner— My living situation has changed, and I will now be moving into a home with my friend who has newly adopted kittens. My cat has lived with other cats in the past but can get a bit overwhelmed when in a new environment.
Adjusting to a new environment can sometimes be a challenge for a pet that has lived most of their life in one place. I would suggest for the first couple of days/weeks giving your cat time to decompress and get comfortable in its new environment. During this time, you should work on setting a routine feeding schedule as well as blocking out times during the day that are dedicated to playing.
Once your cat is comfortable in his new surroundings, you can slowly start scent swapping a couple items with your friend’s kittens. Scent swapping is a way that your cat can become familiar with another cat’s scent without having to meet face to face, and to do this you will need an item that has retained your cat’s scent (ex: blanket, cat bed, t-shirt, etc.). When you first start introducing the new scent, you will need a very high value treat/toy/item that you will offer your cat. By rewarding them for being around the scent, it will help not only desensitize them to it but also allow them to create a positive association with it. When all the cats seem calm and to be doing well when the other cat’s scent is presented, you can then move on to feeding the cats on opposite sides of a door or baby gate. This will also help them to hear and smell the other cats and to have them correlate that having the other cat near means they will get food.
Finally, you can then move on to allowing them to have short sessions of sight swapping and then having supervised time together once they are ready. I would also suggest adding some calming pheromone diffusers into shared spaces of the house and any other places that your cat frequents. It is always important to remember that each cat is different and to move at the pace that your cat is comfortable with!