I think it depends.

Our old girl, Cali, was starting to slow down. So we talked about getting
her a companion to keep her more active. We probably talked about it too
long, as Cali was about 6+ when we got Smokey. Smokey was about 10 months
when we got her. Smokey wanted to sleep/groom with Cali from the very
beginning, but Cali wanted no part of this. She would always hiss at Smokey
or smack her when Smokey tried to sleep with her. Ocaissonally they would
sleep together, if Smokey could sneak up on Cali when she was sleeping. They
do play sometimes, but only if Cali can do the chasing. Cali likes to play
Hide n Seek, while Smokey is a wrestler. Now that Smokey is older and larger
than Cali she tolerates her much less. She will chase Cali away from
anything she considers hers, people, rooms, beds.

We've often wondered if a younger kitten would have worked out better, but I
doubt it. I think it's just a personality clash, entrenched old cat vs. dumb
newbie. Although I've heard that male cats suffer fewer of these issues.
Perhaps a female kitten.

Julie <julie@nope.com> wrote in news:eg9gm0t7q553jbaok80esd4vdq91ibj7me@
4ax.com:

I had 2 cats for many years (but only have one now). Nickleby was 6 or 7
when I got Madeline to keep him company. They really never became
friends, but I credit her with keeping him young and lively until he died
at age 17.5. I think having some company during the day is good.

Nickleby was incredibly dominant and a total lap hog, so Madeline never
got to sit in my lap until after he died -- while I enjoyed her
metamorphosis into lap kitty, I felt pretty guilty that the first 12
years of her life she was lapless. This led to my "one lap, one cat"
rule.

However, I did get Madeline a puppy to keep her company. She came to
appreciate this in time. :)

Sadly, Madeline died in January. In March, I adopted Rosalie, a formerly
feral cat who has been adapting very well to her new life. She still
hasn't leapt into my lap yet, but I have hopes. If she never becomes a
lap kitty, then I will probably get a kitten. I miss having a lapsitter!

So I guess my advice is, yes, company of some kind is good for a solitary
animal -- but it doesn't have to necessarily be another cat. I like the
arrangement of having a dog and a cat -- they get along great, they have
each other for company, and each demands and gets a different kind of
attention, so there's less competition.

--Catherine
& Rosalie the calicohead
with guest appearance by Zoe the cockerchow

I had pretty bad experience with getting a kitten to replace an older
buddy. Nico (around 15 at the time) was not at all pleased with the
new kitten. The kitten of course just wanted to play all the time and
Nico wanted none of it.

I had been afraid of getting an older cat because I didn't want Nico
to be challenged in his own home. In retrospect, I should have given a
home to an older cat closer to his own age. I think it would have
worked out better.

Now Nico is gone and the kitten is around 3. He has his own 3 year old
buddy that I got after Nico died. Plus I recently added a sickly 13ish
year old Lady. She is now the tiny queen of the household. It works
out eventually.

I am in the same boat. My older (and first) Maine Coon cat, Q, died at the
weekend aged 13. The other lad who is 12 was originally bought as a
companion but Q had already bonded with me and did not want to know. After
about 7-8 years Worf gave up and stopped trying to be friends & settled into
the number 2 role. Now Q has gone Worf doesn't seem to be bothered either
way but I am and want to fill the hole left. Question is what do I get? I
popped down to the rescue centre and there was a lovely 8yo female who is
already used to other cats but on the other hand would like a couple of
sibling kittens who I know would get on with each other and maybe transfer
that affection to Worf.

Hard to say what he will accept or not, all I know is that I don't want
another umpteen years of 2 bickering cats.