Still mourning the loss of Petey, I wasn't all that excited about getting a new cat so soon, but since the vet suggested it to help our other cat, Somebody, deal with the loss, my mom and brother went to a local shelter and picked out the new kitten. I had planned on going myself, but just didn't have the heart to. It felt like I wasn't honoring Petey's place in our family, like he didn't mean anything and was easily disposed of and replaced.
At first, Somebody was very wary around the kitten. He would back up every time she came with in a few feet of him. He's been very good with her in terms of not attacking her or hissing at her, though he did bop her on the head with his paw a couple of days after she'd been with us.
Yesterday he started playing with her, lying on the floor and teasing her with his tail so she'd jump at it. Later when she was sleeping in the cat bed we keep in the living room, he stopped, sniffed her, and then started washing her ears until she sat up and looked at him. (He would always wash Petey's ears when he was sleeping.)
He seems to be doing so much better than he was without the kitten. He's back to eating and drinking normally and he doesn't walk around crying for Petey any more. While I wasn't ready to get a new kitten, I'm glad we did because it definitely seems to have helped Somebody. And having a new cat around the house is infinitely preferable to putting him on anti-depressants even for the short term. If you've ever tried to give a pill to a cat, you'll know why I didn't want to do that.
It also doesn't hurt that she likes to crawl into your lap and take a nap while purring like crazy. Here's a picture of her making herself at home on the sofa.
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