How long did you wait before getting a new cat after loss?

[Motherofvoid]

I have posted previously about losing my boy back in April. I still cry for him every single day. He was my soul cat.

I do also have another cat, she is a grumpy old lady but she adored her brother. She is 14 but very healthy, but has become very depressed since losing her brother. We have feliway plugins, she has lots of love and attention and is a very loved and spoiled lady. She definitely prefers my partner and I'm the spare human.

We have arranged to collect a kitten tomorrow from a rescue..a little void boy but I am feeling so conflicted.

Would be very grateful to hear some experiences from others in similar circumstances.

Some rescues have a sort of permanent fostering type arrangement where a cat who would be hard to rehome due to illnesses and/or age can be fostered out but the rescue still pays for all the vet treatments and extra costs from the condition they have. Maybe you could look around & see if any of your local rescues do that?

Oh @Allergictoironing that sounds a wonderful idea if I could find one, if not I will just have to trust to my luck and adopt a sedate senior cat - as long as it's a short-haired one I don't care if it's a boy or girl or what colour it is.

If you live in the South East, Rolvenden Cat Rescue in Kent do long term fostering...

Unfortunately I don't, despite my username.

I would have rescued another cat the next day if DH would've let me. Grief treats us all differently and he needed more time. I guess I was looking to fill the gap asap.

We got our boy about a month after losing my special girl

I agree that it was probably too soon in the sense of the fact that I was still deeply grieving my girl, but it was also perfect timing in that he healed me.

He brought back a light that my life had lost and I am forever glad that we choose him ❤️

I totally agree. When I was still married to my exh our Bengal died. He had cancer and had to be pts. We were both devastated, he was such a character. At first during the shock and grief we said "we're not going through that again". But as others have said, it's awful coming home to an empty house. Therefore, a week later we found ourselves at a Cat Protection shelter where we picked a white cat who looked nothing like our Bengal. It was lovely having a cat in the house again! Then a few months later a local Bengal breeder offered us a Queen who had had her final litter. She was spayed and when recovered, we took her too. So more Bengal yowls! When the marriage ended I took both cats with me and I enjoy my life with them.

I also disagree with that poster about getting over pet loss quite quickly - it isn’t my experience at all. But I think you can 100% love another animal in another way. I remember a few weeks after we brought Louie home crying because he was “the wrong cat” and I just missed our girl so much. Now Louie is absolutely the right cat, my best boy, he’s just a different cat - he’s a little idiot and a total pest, but I love him so much! It’s so sad our girl had to go for him to come (she hated all other cats so we couldn’t have had two) but he needed a home and someone to love him, and we needed a cat to love.

I’m glad we got a boy cat and one who looks/is so different though, despite always having my eye caught when I see white cats on rescue pages.

Photos are needed.