How long must new kitten be in quarantine?

[oceanbreathes]

On Friday, after much deliberation, I adopted an 11 week old kitten.  He was born in a shelter and he, along with his mom & siblings, were pulled within the first few days of his life.  He lived in a foster home where his mom/siblings were the only cats he was around.  However, I'm told that the day I adopted him he did visit the shelter.  I'm pretty certain he was in a cage alone.  He was also transported with other cats/kittens in separate carriers.  He has never shown any signs of respiratory illness and his mom was combo tested.  He just received his 2nd set of vaccinations today & was also combo tested(negative) and dewormed again.  It was at a clinic I've never been to before and, when I told them I had a geriatric cat at home, they suggested waiting two weeks before introducing him to my other cats. 

I have heard so many varying opinions from 3 days to two weeks.  I'm willing to wait to ensure my current cats are safe, especially my eldest who has health concerns, but the kitten is understandably distressed.  He is an extremely social little guy and is so eager to be with my three cats, all of whom I expect to accept and adore him.  He has three humans(I invited a friend to come stay with us, for his sake) giving him love at points throughout the day but it still kills me that he's alone, especially at night, and without feline companions.  Even if he's left out of his cage(extra large dog kennel), he still cries and cries when he hears any of us on the other floors of the house.  He had slightly loose stool last night/today but I believe that was from the food changes and he appears to be very healthy otherwise. 

I will be asking my current two vets as well as others at the rescue but I'd like to hear as many opinions as possible.  I just left him in his little hammock with his toys for the night and walked downstairs as he cried his little head off.  :/

 

[sivyaleah]

I've always heard 1 week to 10 days. That would give time for any viruses a new cat may be harboring to show itself.  2 weeks does sound like overkill to me personally. However, your vet is probably taking into consideration the age and health of your oldest resident cat and erring on the side of caution.  If you trust that person, try to hold off as long as possible. 11 weeks is still pretty young, so he's probably missing his siblings and mom a bit.  Keeping him well entertained in the interim is probably the best choice, although I can empathize with feeling bad for him being lonely.  Make sure he has some vertical items at his disposal so that he can look out windows; I'd think that would go a long way towards distracting him.  

 

[oceanbreathes]

The poor guy was diagnosed with coccidia Thursday and the doctor said he needs to be treated for 10 days before meeting them. I have, however, brought him downstairs to my cats in my arms. I'm hoping this is helping him to some degree, along with toys and visits from us.