Sorry about Stacie.
Here’s mine behaving themselves, for once.
As to getting a new cat, some random thoughts:
1.) As with most here I suspect, I’d strongly recommend shelters over purebred unless you are either a.) thoroughly besotted with a particular breed ( perfectly understandable ), b.) and/or intend to be a breeder of such and c.) you don’t mind spending a LOT more money :). I think it is fair to say that cat breeds are, relatively speaking, a lot less differentiated ( especially behaviorally ) than their canine counterparts.
2.) If you can afford the higher vet/food/toy bills, two is almost always better than one, even in a one bedroom apartment. ESPECIALLY if you get kittens - those things are hellaciously pesty in their search for stimulation. Having a playmate seems to equal less destructive behavior and better exercised cats. Plus they are 3x as amusing as one. If getting two, I’d advise two kittens/young cats ( siblings or otherwise ) for ease of introductions. However already bonded adult pairs are not uncommon in shelters and shelters love adopting those out as a unit.
3.) Kittens are adorable and amusing as all get out. They are also, as above, as pesty as hell and can cause a distracting amount of mischief. I wouldn’t recommend one vs. the other, but an older cat will usually bond just as tightly as a kitten to a new owner, they are harder for shelters to adopt out and are ( perhaps, but see below ) more of a known quantity tempermentally. Of course adult cats will likely be with you for a shorter period of time. A fine compromise might be subadults, say over six months old, who aren’t quite as inexhaustably energetic as the younger kittens.
4.) It seems anecdotally true that neutered males might be, by a small margin and on average the “sweetest” and most demonstrably affectionate ( which can also mean totally annoying lap parasite ), whereas females tend to be slightly more independent. But that’s such an extremely broad generalization that I would never base getting a particular gender of cat on it. I only mention it because it gets brought up a lot. The most affection-demanding lap parasite of a cat I ever had was a female.
5.) Shelter folks, understandably trying to steer people to older cats, often seem fond of saying that you can’t tell an adult cat’s personality from its personality as a kitten. Personally I call qualified bullshit on that one. What does seem true is that cat’s personality can sometimes change radically ( temporally or more rarely permanently ) in response to environmental stimuli or stress ( new house, new baby, new cat, etc. ). But that is pretty individual. However every cat I’ve ever known from kittenhood to adulthood in a reasonably stable household, the personality has remained very consistent, excluding age-related changes like reduced rough-housing in adults. Bold kittens tend to bold adults, more often than not.
I am so sorry your kitty died.
