One of my cats has died, what to do about his brother?

[Stompythedinosaur]

I've discovered this morning that one of my cats has died, I found his body under a tree in the garden. No idea why, he was a year old and fit and healthy.

I am beyond devastated.

One of my big worries is how his brother will cope, he is still young with hopefully many years ahead of him. They were very sociable, and slept together. Do I get another cat? Or a pair of kittens? Or just keep him as a single cat? He is a well loved outdoor cat with a cat flap, but two days a week both me and dp are out all day.

Any thoughts very welcome.

Well, we had a cat funeral in the garden this evening (complete with flowers and dd1 singing a song). The dc are understandably very upset, but are coping. I showed the body to my other kitty but he didn't seem that interested. It is pretty likely that he'd seen it before I found it as it was in one of their favourite spots.

Now I'm having a drink with dp and looking at pics of my boy as a kitten.

Interesting point about heart disease, I will ring the vets on Monday and ask about having my other bot checked.

Thank you to everyone for your support.

@Stompythedinosaur so sorry to hear about your cat. Sounds like you gave him a really lovely send off.
FWIW, the same thing happened to me, I had two kittens from the same litter, sadly one of them died at 6 months,we showed her sister her body, before she was buried in the back garden. The remaining kitten we had for 13 fantastic years that were full of love purrs and cuddles. I hope you have the same too.x

I’m so sorry for your loss, finding him that way must have been heartbreaking. Cats are territorial, so it may be that your remaining one will be happy to have everywhere to himself. Definitely don’t introduce a new one for the time being, let him settle into having all the space to himself and see how things go

What I find worrying is that a very young, and seemingly healthy, cat has taken itself off to a space in the garden to die. I know this is what cats do, but the fact it was so young is worrying - I think I’d have wanted a vet to check it over to see what the cause was in case of genetic problems that could affect the brother.

Were they free roaming? Is there any possibility that maybe he came across some antifreeze or something? Sorry to go down the questioning route, but just want to check that remaining boy isn’t exposed to something that maybe a (distant) neighbour has unwittingly left exposed.

Hugs to you all xxx

How sad for you all. The funeral was a lovely idea. It sounds like his surviving brother is coping well and has a lot of friends and love. Hope you're a bit better today

Have a very nasty feeling I'm going to be in the OP's position in the next few days. Was thinking of taking her sister with her when it's time. In the hope she'll understand. Though likev a PP I strongly suspect that her sister will be happier. They don't really like each other unless at the vets or cattery! And the poorly one is very dominant

I'm sorry to hear that Toddler , I hope you are ok.

Want2beme yes they are free roaming, but we are very rural, so only a small number of neighbours to worry about, and lots of other cats none of whom have been sick (I've asked around) so I'm fairly sure the risk to my other boy is fairly low.

I took her sister to the vets with her. I'm so glad I did. They spent the wait snuggled up in one basket. It was a perfect end for Fatty. Snorg sniffed her but immediately recoiled and I think she understood. She currently doesn't seem bothered and I suspect will blossom now she's not being dominated.

Snorg has barely stopped purring since Tuesday. She's all over me!

She's obviously one of lifes copers.