Or even possibly a new cat.

We have our lovely shadow, but she's very social for a cat.  when I went off to college, she started hanging close to mom all day (because my younger brother's in school all day long).  I mean, she'd dog mom's heels, she didin't want to be left alone.  And if we all go somewhere, we always have someone come feed her, but she sticks like glue until she's convinced we're not going off again, then she sulks and ignores us to let us know how unhappy she is.

The thing is, next year my younger brother's off to college.  then he won't even be home afterschool and weekends.  And if she's already getting lonely, it'll be worse then. 

So, we're probably going to get her a companion.  we'll bring her along to the humane society, so we won't get one she completely can't stand, and we're doing it now so we'll have at least a couple weeks with everyone home, to accustom everyone, then mom and dad and my brother to make sure they all stay friendly, and when all three of us kids are gone (after the summer home, no less), she will have had plenty of time to get used to the new cat.

And yay! new cat!  as much as we all love Shadow, we like furry critters, and we'll love whoever we bring home, too.

Cats are lovely.

A kitten probably would integrate easier, true. 

The only reason there's doubt is we don't know who's up at the humane society waiting to be adopted, so we don't know who we'll walk away with.  plus kittens are more likely to adopt, so if we find someone a bit older who can get along alright, we may end up adopting.

So we're going as soon as we come back from visiting family, around jan 1st, so if there's problems it won't be while we're gone.

Good luck with your own lookout.  I hope Lord of Samhain gets along well with whoever finds you.