introducing new cat

Question
We recently lost a 5 1/2 year old male cat who died suddenly. He and his spayed female littermate have always been together, and we don't want her to be lonely. We don't know if it would be best to intoduce a kitten, adult cat, male, female? Any advice would be welcome- we have never had cats before. The male who died was very social and followed us around- we joked about males being more "needy". His surviving sister, while friendly and affectionate, is more aloof and independent. Thank you.

Answer
Hi
firstly can i say that she won't be lonely in the sense that we feel lonely. She may grieve for the other cat and this is ok and normal. Please see my page here for more on this

/cat-grief.html

If you do go ahead and get another cat, then do not get another female get a male cat, neutered and one that is either used to other cats or is a kitten. There is a procedure to try and introduce new cats to each other which sometimes helps with the settling in process. see this page here for more on this

/introducing-cats.html

best wishes Kate

P.S I am sorry to hear of your recent loss, I know myself how difficult this can be.