Sad death of 1 bonded kitten

[LittleKitty1]

Hoping for some advice from experienced folks.

We adopted 12 week old siblings, brother and sister, two months ago. Lovely together, lots of play fighting but loads of cuddling and mutual grooming. A dream pairing.

Very sadly, the brother died on Monday.

Surviving sister is understandably pining terribly. She’s confused as to where her buddy is.

We’re obviously distraught, but my thoughts are mainly with the poor sis.

Just how soon should we look at trying to introduce a new kitten?? She’s a really feisty cat, much more so than her brother was, and needs a lot of stimulation. She got that from her bro, and I really think she needs feline company.

I want to get the timing right. I feel so sorry for her moping around the house, looking for her brother.

I'd go for right now. Kittens need a playmate.

This happened to us at @12 weeks, unfortunately our surviving kitten never bonded with the replacement kitten despite us managing to find another kitten quite quickly. I'm fact she rather dominated the younger one, who didn't come out of her shell until the first cat died 12 years later! So doesn't always work I'm afraid.

Oh gosh I'm so sorry - your poor little kitten. I agree with getting another one now.

We got a male kitten in 2021 then another male kitten a year later. We followed all the advice, kept them apart for two days and the bonding was almost instant - they're still best friends.

I hope you can find a lovely mate for her!

What happened to him? Could she need vet attention or monitoring first? Or are there other circumstances that might need to be sorted before you look for a replacement?

Thanks all for your thoughts. I can’t imagine not having another kitten for a playmate.

The poor little guy who died had had a few allergic reactions before, but sadly didn’t make it through this one. His sister hasn’t had any, and got a clean vet bill of health.

I think we’ll try for asap, I know it’s a gamble but one worth trying.