Getting another cat after death of sibling

[Geminijust]

We recently lost our lovely 7 year old cat suddenly, leaving her brother all alone. We initially said we wouldn't get another cat as they were incredibly close, sleeping together, grooming each other etc. We felt he wouldn't accept another cat and that she was irreplaceable.

However, he seems so sad and lonely. He used to wander quite a bit, whereas his sister would always be home waiting for him. Now he hardly goes out, as if he's scared we will disappear too 😪

We are now wondering if maybe we should get a new companion for him? It's not a decision we will take lightly and plan to wait few months before doing anything (she's only been gone a couple of weeks, so he may come to terms with it I guess).

Has anyone got a new cat in these circumstances? How did it work out? Any advice?

Thank you x

We had 2 brothers. At 8 yo 1 died. His db pined for 5 months.. I caved and got a dkitten. Within 2 weeks they were inseparable.. Been over 3 years. Still besties.

Ah, that's good to know. Your cats are beautiful, your tabby is the spitting image of our boy x

At the time dcat was camping out in dd's room. I added another bed and litter tray and left dkitten in there also. Few rounds of hissing and they literally couldn't resist each other!! My heart actually soared!!

I've done it three times, the first two were a success. The third one has been really tricky. See my other thread! I'm not optimistic, but still trying.

I lost my boy at 8yo, leaving his sister as an only indoor cat. As I go out to work she was incredibly lonely and was very clingy whenever I was about.

I got her a toy boy about 3 years old, and though it took a couple of months they are pretty friendly now. She's definitely the boss, though friendly they aren't as close as she was with her brother but she is much happier and no longer clingy with me.

I think it's probably better if you replace like for like when it comes to male or female - at least you know they get on with boys/girls so that's one less factor you need to worry about. Ad be clear to the rescue that if they don't get on you will need to return the newcomer.

We went from a db to a tiny female. Dcat was so needy for a friend he didn't care as it turned out! We got ours from cpl... Cost £30 including spay voucher and microchip.

We had mum and kitten. The mum died when her kitten was about 2 and we got another cat. It took 6 months but they are now really close.

We lost our female cat unexpectedly when she was 6, leaving behind a (then) 7yo and 3yo. The 7yo had never known life without her as he'd been a rescue and he mourned her horribly, even though he still had company. He slept in "her" spot, cried for her and searched for her constantly - it was heartbreaking.

We got a new kitten after a month and he was enamoured with him within hours.

Thank you for your replies so far. Will definitely give it some thought over the next few months. Was actually thinking male kitten so existing cat could be like a big brother/uncle showing him the ropes, but good point about getting "like for like" although don't want to feel like we're replacing our girl 😪