Hospice foster, also known as “fospice,” can be a wonderful way to provide a loving home to a cat at the end of their life. Photo by JaneA Kelley
November is Adopt a Senior Pet Month, and if you’re like me, you see stories of old cats in shelters and your heart breaks. You want to take the poor creature home and help them recover from whatever happened that led to their appearance in the shelter. But then Realistic You chimes in: “Senior cats can be really expensive to take care of, with the medications and blood tests and all.” And then your heart breaks again because you want to help a senior cat or a sick cat, but how can you do it? Guess what: there’s a program just for you, and it’s called hospice foster, also known as “fospice.”
What exactly is hospice foster?
Just what it sounds like: you work with an animal shelter to provide a temporary (or permanent) home for a cat who is old or who has a fatal illness. The shelter pays for the veterinary care, and usually the food as well, and you provide love, a warm lap, and trips to the vet as needed.
A lot of shelters have formal hospice foster programs, and a lot of wonderful people have opened their homes and hearts to a cat who was nearing the end of their life. But even shelters that don’t have formal hospice foster programs may have an informal network of volunteers who are willing to take in hospice cats despite the inevitable heartbreak.
I’ve felt a calling for hospice foster for a long time. I’ve certainly seen several cats through their long–and short–lives with me. I know it hurts every single time you have to send a cat across the Veil, but I also know that will never stop me from having cats in my life! Right now it’s not realistic because I already have three cats, one of whom (Thomas, that handsome guy in the feature photo) is going to be 19 in March. I also don’t think it would be fair to bring an old or sick hospice cat into a home with three cats in it already! But I don’t think I’ll ever forget about my desire to do hospice foster when the time is right.
But what about the emotional cost of hospice foster?
It’s true, hospice foster isn’t for people who have a hard time facing death or lack confidence in their ability to give appropriate medications and make the humane decision when the time comes. I personally have gone through some very dark times in my life and survived those, and I’ve had to make that heartbreaking decision several times over the course of my life.
What I do know is that although the parting is sad, and I certainly do cry and grieve over the loss of each cat friend I send off, I come through each experience just a slightly better and more compassionate person. I’m not afraid of death–never have been, really–so the idea of being with an animal (or a person) while they’re moving toward death doesn’t freak me out.
If you think you might be interested in doing hospice foster, I suggest that you take a lot of time to think about it before volunteering. I’ve been thinking about hospice foster for years, ever since Siouxsie turned 17 or so, and I know how I feel about the subject.
Check out this Q&A with a woman who does fospice for Best Friends Animal Society for some perspective from a hospice foster volunteer.
How do you sign up for hospice foster?
Most of the shelters I know of require you to sign up as a foster volunteer first. You may need to attend at least one volunteer orientation, depending on the shelter’s guidelines.
If you’re interested in hospice foster, expect to be asked about your experience with aging or ill cats and your comfort level with giving medications. The shelter may want you to do some short-term fosters first, or they may be comfortable starting you right off with fospice. The requirements, protocol and procedures vary from shelter to shelter.
To wrap things up …
Hospice foster can be an amazing and wonderful experience. As long as you’re realistic about your lifestyle, experience level, and ability to handle illness and death, you will have a successful experience with fospice. You’ll have the support of the shelter and your fellow volunteers, and you’ll be giving a cat in need an incredible gift.
Thomas wants you to know that taking care of cats who have fewer tomorrows than yesterdays is really not a bummer at all! Photo by JaneA Kelley
JaneA Kelley is a punk rock cat mom and award-winning blogger. She is a regular columnist for Catster Magazine, and she and the Paws and Effect Gang share a home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Thank you for your great article on Senior Fospice Programs….
I actually fostered a 17 year old kitty who came in at the large no-kill shelter that I was volunteering at a couple years ago….it has been a great experience and they helped me a lot with her.
Now at times, she needed bloodwork and thyroid meds etc, and I had to take her to my regular vet for treatment that was over the budget of the shelter, but I have to tell you, she is the healthiest of my four cats, two one-year olds and a ten year old, she is the oldest and the healthiest.
I am thinking, although this is not always the case, she made it thru life a lot longer than many cats so perhaps she has good genes!
I have recently adopted her outright and she is 19….still in very good health all considered. I would not be surprised if she made it to 21 or 22 at the rate she is going.
I admire those who can do this, I know it’s not for me. Too much anxiety. I’ll settle for hanging out with the older guys when I volunteer for rescue. I have adopted an older guy, and had several cats live into their 20s. I wish people weren’t afraid to adopt the 8-10-12 year olds – with good care they have half their life to go.
Yeah, it always baffles me that shelters will advertise any cat over 8 as a “senior.” Seriously, they may not even get any age-related illnesses for years. Thomas didn’t develop kidney disease until he was 15 or 16, and we didn’t even have to start doing fluids until this year. He’ll be 19 in March.
That’s the most awesome thing about old cats: you honestly never know how long they’ll keep going on happily through their days.
I had no idea! There may come a time when this is a great option for me. Thank you!
Isn’t it cool? What a wonderful way to give cats a loving home for their golden years.
I was proud to be able to provide fospice care to Nemo, who I helped during his last weeks. He was not doing well at the rescue so I volunteered to have him at home with us.
He fitted in perfectly. The other cats flowed around him like water around a pebble, and he was allowed to enjoy his time in the sun.
Would I do it again? You bet I would! I was proud to help, to care and to be with him as he crossed the Bridge. He did not go alone or with a stranger. He has his family, and in time I was honoured that his ashes came home to me. Nemo came home.
I love this post. Thank you! I’ve never thought of myself as a hospice foster, although I’ve fostered some old cats and some who were very sick. Some went on to forever homes and others lived out the rest of their lives with me. My rescue has a hospice cat now, and our hearts are aching.
Missy, I just love the idea of being able to help these cats. As soon as my home is quiet enough to bring in a new cat.
It is our tentative plan that our next dog shall be a foster. It will most likely end up a foster fail but that’s ok.
Fostering is something that I’d love to do. Although emotionally a foster hospice would be quite difficult, I can’t think of a more loving thing to do.
What a wonderful idea. I know I couldn’t do it because the emotional cost is too high for me. Every 15 years is hard enough to lose a furry companion.
I am such a big advocate for senior adoptions and palliative care! Yes, it does pull at your heart – we lost three to cancer in one year – but the rewards are amazing. The love and compassion is life altering. Great article!
I had never heard of this – but what a way to really make a difference in a cat’s life! I’m going to look into this.