Foster Hero Story: Meet Veronica & Sam

It can be deeply satisfying to foster a senior pet. This household fostered a cat in his golden years and had just a wonderful experience. Here’s Veronica’s foster hero story!

Why did Sam need to be fostered ?

Sam was surrendered by someone who couldn’t care for him anymore. At 18 years old, he seemed an unlikely candidate for adoption and had been at the shelter for just a couple weeks before he developed an upper respiratory infection, a common problem for cats under stress. The shelter reached out to its network foster volunteers to see who could take him in and help him recover from his cold.

What was your experience fostering Sam ?

We brought Sam home and after a short time his respiratory infection cleared up and he was able to integrate into the rest of the house. He was such a delightful, friendly guy, spry for his age. He got along great with our resident cat. But still, at age 18, we didn’t know if he would find someone who would adopt him with so few years left even though he was now in good health. We thought we might wind up being the last stop for Sam.

Who in your family or community supports your foster volunteering?

We work as a team here when we foster!  When we foster a litter of kittens, my husband is a champion bottle feeder and our neighbors help socialize the babies.

What comes next in Sam’s story?

Well, we were contacted by someone who specifically wanted a low-key senior animal. She came to the house, met Sam, and fell in love with him. And Sam moved into his forever home shortly after that.

We sure consider you a foster hero. What more do you want to share?

Senior animals need love, too! I’m so glad we fostered Sam and helped him find a loving home for him to live out his golden years. The kittens and puppies tend to get all the attention, but it’s so gratifying to help the ones who tend to get forgotten. Don’t get me wrong! I love fostering the babies, too, but I chose this story of all our foster stories because I would like to highlight how wonderful it can be to foster the older cats, too!

What advice would you give to first-time foster pet parents?

People always ask if it’s hard to give up the foster pets when they find their forever homes. Well, even though I feel a bit sad to see them go, that sadness is outweighed by how happy I am to get wonderful pets into wonderful homes. It fills my heart to see my foster “alumni” becoming a part of so many loving families.

Ready to help a foster pet? You can search for pets in need on our site, just visit https://app.911fosterpets.com/animals