FHV-1 cat is lonely

I only have one cat now. At one point, I had six. The one left, Spot, has always had the chronic sneezing and runny eyes associated with feline herpes virus. None of the other kitties ever had it or caught it from him. He's around 12 years old. He was a stray I bought in back in 2007.

Now he seems lonely and is very clingy.

I want to get another kitty, but I worry about him spreading the virus.

What do you all think. Has anyone here ever dealt with a cat with this chronic condition?

@Mimiaow  I am sorry you haven't had any replies before now.

Ihave a cat who has probably feline herpes and was terribly worried about it when I first found out.  Thankfully as he has got a bit more mature (now 5 1/2) he rarely shows symptoms but I am still concious it is in his system.   From what I read when finding out about the condition, it is thought that about 80% of cats carry the herpes virus in their system but because their immune system is in good shape they rarely show symptoms, and when they do they are very mild.   

If you still feel Spot would be happier with a new feline companion, the chances are that if you adopt a healthy cat they should be quite safe in terms of any cross infection and may well already be a carrier them self.  The harder thing to figure out is how to determine if Spot really does want a new companion and if so finding the best match for him.  

My oldest cat has FHV and I have added 3 additional cats to my house since I've had her.  None have caught it.  I would encourage you to adopt another cat of similar age.

I have a cat, Ophelia, with feline herpes, diagnosed when we first rescued her 15 years ago. She is 16 now. We have 3 other cats, all acquired after her. Since we've had her, she's had a few bouts of sniffling/sneezing and goopy eye. Just takes an antibiotic and some eye ointment, and within a few days she's back to her old self. Honestly, I have never worried much about her sharing her disease. We do have another cat who has also been diagnosed with feline herpes, but she's never really shown any symptoms from it.

We also had another cat years ago who was in the house along with Ophelia for about 7 years. We lost that kitty 8 years ago to renal disease. Ophelia grieved so much after we had to put the other kitty to sleep, that we ended up adopting Boodle within a month after losing the other kitty. Boodle does have feline herpes, but we don't know whether she had it before we adopted her or acquired it after. The vet said that a large percentage of rescued/previously homeless cats have the virus. Our other 2 cats have never been diagnosed.

Like stephanietx, I think adopting another kitty, preferably an older cat, would be great for Spot. There are so many older cats out there who need homes, and as it could help Spot as well, the feline herpes issue pales in comparison for the good you could do for that kitty.

Best of luck to you & Spot!

Thanks for the replies.

I decided two get two girl kitties who will keep each other company.  Spot is not impressed.  I'm just not going to worry about them getting the FHV-1 since it seems most actually have it anyway.

I got the first kitten 3 weeks ago.  Named her Sweetie.  Sweetie's mama also nursed the kitten I picked up yesterday, but they are not sisters.  My hope is that they will play together and entertain Spot.

Spot seems not to mind having Sweetie around, but she just wants to play, play, and more play.  He just wants to sleep. 

Now that I have another kitten, I hope they will keep each other company.

I opted for kittens because it's been 20 years since I've been around kittens and I figured these may very well be the last kitties I ever get.  I'm turning 60 next year and if these kitties last 18 or so years, I'll be an old woman by then.  I've adopted adult cats for my last 3. 

Kittens are fun to watch, too. 

Congratulations on our young new arrivals.      I hope Spot doesn't mind his sleep being disturbed too much by kittens hunting down his tail, or simply running over him from time to time.  Who knows, maybe he will even join in from time to time.   Enjoy the kitten antics while you can - it never seems to last long enough for me.    And who knows, maybe by the time your kittens reach 18, 78 will be the 'new 50' for us humans.