Finding A New "family Member": Too Soon? Options

[Precious' mom]

Thought I would seek out some opinions on this subject.
My Precious has been gone three weeks this morning. I visited a cat shop (where they sell pet supplies and are also a no-kill shelter of sorts, they take in strays and place them in good homes) and saw a six-week-old kitten that almost resembled Precious when he was a baby. Not seeming to get too interested after handling the kitten, I asked the owner if she had heard of any pet loss support groups in my area. She said there weren't any and asked if I had recently lost a pet. I explained that my cat had died almost three weeks earlier. She stated that it would be good to adopt a new kitten and to give it a good, loving home, that it would help ease the pain of the recent loss. I told her the pain was still too fresh and that I was still in the grieving phase and she understood but also pointed out that since I had adopted Precious as a stray kitten so many years ago, the best thing to do would be to carry on the tradition again.
There is much more to adopting an animal than just adopting it; it's a lifetime commitment. Plus, I haven't gotten over losing my right arm -- I feel like a mental amputee!! So many swirling, conflicting emotions. Since most of you adopted recently, what are your feelings and views on the subject? I am so torn between giving my heart to another cat but still honouring the one I recently lost.
Lisa

[dlima]

Hi Lisa,
So sorry for your loss of Precious. I lost my 2 furbabies one day apart last Sept. My friend rescues and fosters kittens, so she decided to bring 2 new kitties to me(that I had met the day before after my 1st cat had died)the day that I was putting down my 2nd cat. Well my reaction was this is much too soon. But I kept them both. And I am not sorry. On the one hand it was hard to adjust to kittens after a 9 and 10 yr old. And in the beginning they were sick with eye infections. But you know what it kept me busy. And my daughter is away at college and I live alone. So instead of coming home to an empty apt. every day after work(Tink used to greet me at the door EVERY DAY, and they both slept with me every night) I came home to my two new little kitties. And it didn't take long to totally fall in love with them. And even though its been almost one year that I have them, I still miss my other furbabies. But I never felt that I was dishonoring my them by loving the newbies. They will AWAYS be in my heart. And recently I adopted the 2 siblings of one of my new babies. So now I have 4 and I am referred to as the Crazy Cat Lady!!!! So take your time and know that you will make the right decision for yourself. Take care, we are all thinking of you.
Deb