Senior Citizens and Senior Kittizens | Hearts That Purr Feline Guardians

Senior Citizens and Senior Kittizens: a Long Term Foster Care Program

Smiling senior man holding a gray and white cat

How It Works

Hearts That Purr’s Senior Citizens & Senior Kittizens program brings you feline companionship through long-term foster care, not adoption. Each cat remains under Hearts That Purr’s ownership, while you provide a safe, loving, indoor-only home for the rest of its life.

We provide all you need:

All veterinary care
Essentials such as litterbox, bowls, toys and scratch post
A starter month of food, treats and litter.*
Continued support including grooming and claw trimming

If life changes and you can no longer care for your foster cat, it simply returns to us.

*Future help with food/litter may be available for limited income fosters.

Foster Eligibility

At this time, those interested in fostering should:

Reside in the Tucson area
Be 55+ and live in a quiet home without other pets
Have a telephone and your Landlord's consent to have a pet (if you rent)
Be both physically and mentally capable of basic cat care, including: litterbox scooping, feeding and ensuring a safe, clean, indoor-only environment for a cat.

Certain exceptions may be made when it's in the best interest of a kitty. Contact us with further questions.

How To Apply

Fill out the Foster Caregiver Application through the link below, to describe yourself and your home environment.

Once the application is reviewed, an interview and home inspection is scheduled to ensure you and your home will be a good fit. If approved, we may place a cat shortly thereafter or wait until a suitable kitty is found.

Please understand that not all applicants will be accepted into this program or matched with a kitty right away. We make all decisions based on what's best for a particular cat in a long-term foster situation. We also want to ensure a positive and fulfilling experience for you, as a cat foster parent.

Are you ready to be a foster mom or dad for a senior kittizen in need?
Fill out our online application to get started!

Apply to Foster

Sad Fact #1: Senior cats in shelters are the least likely to be adopted simply because of their age. Many are euthanized. Even in no-kill shelters, older cats may spend their remaining years in cages or crowded, stressful environments—without the comfort and security of a home.

Sad Fact #2: More older adults are living alone than ever before. Social isolation can take a serious toll on physical and mental health, increasing the risk of depression and other concerns.

So why not bring these two groups together? Senior cats need loving homes, and many seniors would welcome the companionship of a cat—but often choose not to adopt later in life for two common reasons:

The rising cost of pet ownership
Worry about outliving a new pet

The Solution: The Hearts That Purr long-term foster program "Senior Citizens and Senior Kittizens"!

This program was created to address both concerns and help more senior cats find homes. It is not adoption, but a special arrangement that matches homeless, senior cats with capable older adults who want companionship—through a permanent, long-term foster placement.

NOTE: Presently, this program is only available in the Tucson, AZ area.