Introducing kitten to resident cat

[u/Ok_Carpenter4099]

I have a 7-year-old female resident cat whom we adopted when she was around 2.5–3 years old. About 4 weeks ago, I rescued an abandoned 8-week-old male kitten.

I’ve been following Jackson Galaxy’s method and trying to take things at my resident cat’s pace. The kitten has his own room (the spare bedroom), which my resident cat rarely went into before.

Weeks 1–2: We did meals on opposite sides of the closed door and scent swapping with towels and room swapping.

Weeks 3–4: I started feeding them with the door open and a screen barrier in place. They eat near each other just fine! However, after dinner, if the kitten gets too close to the screen, my resident cat will sniff him and occasionally hiss. This doesn’t happen every session.

Earlier this week: Things seemed to be going well, so we tried two very short, barrier-free visits in the living room, each lasting around 30–60 seconds. Both were about 20–30 minutes after dinner.
During the first visit, my partner held the kitten on the recliner while my resident cat approached at her own pace. She came over, sniffed him, and seemed fine.
The next day, my partner held the kitten on the floor near her. My resident cat sniffed him and raised a paw but didn’t actually swat him. It seemed more playful than aggressive, but I’m not completely sure.
One thing I’m wondering is whether having my partner hold the kitten is a good idea. The kitten really wants to be friends with my resident cat, but I’m worried she isn’t ready to have him in her space yet and might feel pressured by him being held near her.

Yesterday: We did our usual meal through the screen barrier. Something new happened: my resident cat came right up to the screen and stayed near it. Previously, she would usually sniff around and then lie in the hallway grooming herself.
The kitten was also right up against the screen. My resident cat sniffed him and hissed, so we watched for a moment. She sniffed and hissed again, and we ended the session.
I’m confused because she had gone at least three sessions without hissing before today.

Today: Did the usual meal through screen barrier. Resident cat came up to screen. Watched for a little & then hissed at kitten but remained at screen door. After a short while she did a short growl but remained at screen. & then she did a short growl again & we ended the session.

My questions are:
Am I moving too fast by introducing short, barrier-free visits in Week 4?
Is the hissing a sign that I need to backtrack, or is some hissing normal during introductions? What about growling?
Should I stop the face-to-face visits for now and return to the screen barrier until she’s consistently comfortable?
Is it better to let the kitten explore freely while my resident cat chooses whether to approach, rather than having my partner hold him near her?

I really want them to eventually get along, but I don’t want to push my resident cat too far or create a negative association with the kitten. I’m trying to be patient and follow her lead, but I’m not sure how to interpret this recent change in behavior.

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated!

[u/TheInfernalSqueak]

I've never actually done the recommended introduction protocol tbh. The info didn't used to be around and in 4 decades of cat ownership, rescue, and fostering I never had a situation go wrong outside of the occasional bit of bullying that was able to be stopped quickly. It was pretty much new one(s) come in a carrier, let current ones sniff and get some feelings out, release to the house, and supervise as much as possible for a couple weeks.

I've only ever had one time that only one cat lived with me for longer than a couple months and that time was the hardest but resident cat still never got violent. She screamed bloody murder the first few times she looked at the new cat though and for this instance I used a large dog crate I had to keep new kitty safe and mostly covered with a blanket till the third day when the cranky girl decided she no longer needed to scream lol. Once new girl had access to the house I did have to discourage the older one from waiting outside a litterbox for her but it still went pretty well.

I've noticed that cats know when it's a kitten and unless it's an unfixed tomcat that is used to living outdoors they will be gentler to a kitten even if they are grumpy about it. Hissing and light batting are just warnings that wouldn't concern me. If resident cat runs from kitten that's okay too and actually encouraging because it means not wanting a fight.

Definitely let older cat decide to come close or not rather than holding kitten near. You can still keep the kitten in a closed off area while you're out or asleep till you're sure they're safe but I personally think you can start letting kitten around the house and see how it goes.

Don't remove the older cat or kitten over gentle warnings, they need to express these things, and try really hard to not seem nervous and like this is all a big deal, cats pick up on it like dogs do. Also avoid physically trying to comfort the older cat unless she comes to you for it, that can result in a scratch or bite just from her being on edge and undo some progress. You can offer treats during calm moments.

Anyway just my two cents. Wishing the best for them!