Foster a Dog or Cat in Australia: How It Works

What is fostering a dog or cat?

Fostering is looking after a rescue animal in your own home until it is adopted or ready to be. The animal still belongs to the rescue. The rescue decides on vet treatment, screens adopters and makes the final call on who takes the animal home. You are the person who lives with it every day.

That makes the foster carer more useful than most people realise. An adopter wants to know what a dog or cat is really like: whether it is fine alone, how it is with visitors, whether it uses a litter tray, whether it pulls on the lead. A shelter kennel cannot answer those questions. A foster home can. Some of the rescues we list have no shelter at all: every animal lives with a volunteer carer, and the carer is the person who meets adopters and answers their questions.

If you are not sure yet whether a dog or a cat suits you, fostering is a low-commitment way to find out, and our dog or cat quiz is a quick first step.

Who pays for what?

The rescue covers the big costs. The rescues in the state table below that set out costs on their foster page all cover or support vet care, and most supply food as well. What the carer covers varies, so read the program's page and ask before the animal arrives.

From each rescue's foster page, checked 9 November 2026. Programs change; the rescue's current page is the final word.

Which rescues run foster programs in each state?

This is not a full list. We include a rescue only where its own website confirms it runs a foster program, and we checked each page on 9 November 2026. Many smaller foster-based rescues not named here also need carers; the rescues listing animals on our city pages are a good place to look.

Checked 9 November 2026 on each rescue's own foster page. Requirements and the animals needing care change through the year.

How do I apply to foster?

The steps are similar everywhere. Here is how the programs above describe them.

1. Fill in the rescue's foster application. It asks about your home, household, other pets, hours and what kind of animal you can take.
2. Send photos of your home and yard. RSPCA Queensland, RSPCA WA and Dogs' Homes of Tasmania all ask for them, especially for dogs.
3. Do the training. RSPCA Queensland runs a short online course, and RSPCA South Australia asks carers to attend training sessions.
4. Get your own pets ready. RSPCA NSW asks that existing pets are vaccinated, desexed and treated for parasites, and may ask you to bring them to meet the foster animal.
5. Wait for a match. Dogs' Homes of Tasmania says a suitable match can come quickly or take several months. Being approved does not mean an animal arrives the next day.

Before you apply, be honest with yourself about time and money with our adoption readiness check. The questions are the same ones a rescue will ask.

Fostering cats and kittens

Cats and kittens are where the need is usually biggest, because kittens arrive in litters and cannot be adopted until they are old enough to be desexed. AWL NSW says kittens usually stay in foster for 2 to 8 weeks. That short, defined stay makes kitten fostering a good first placement for many people.

Kittens are not all easy, though. Bottle-fed kittens, the ones taken in without their mother, are among the most demanding placements: RSPCA Darwin says kittens under 4 weeks can need feeding as often as every two hours, overnight included. Shy or semi-wild kittens need patient handling to become adoptable pets. Adult cats are quieter work and often suit people who are out during the day.

Expect to keep foster cats indoors. AWL NSW requires it, and Ten Lives asks carers to keep a daily diary of each cat's health. Browse current cats from the rescues we track in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Fostering a dog

Dogs go into foster for many reasons. Dogs' Homes of Tasmania lists stress in kennels, recovery from surgery, mothers with puppies, puppies finishing their vaccinations, long-stay dogs needing a break and greyhounds leaving racing. RSPCA Darwin adds dogs that need to learn basic manners.

The dogs that need carers most are often not the ones people ask for. AWL NSW says puppies and small dogs are adopted quickly while medium and large dogs stay longest, and it points out that a big dog is not always a high-energy one: many of its dog carers live in apartments. ACT Rescue and Foster says most of its dogs are medium sized, often Staffies, Bull Arabs and working breeds.

Older dogs are a strong case for fostering too, because a kennel is hard on them and they tend to wait longer. Our senior dog adoption guide covers what living with an older dog is like.

Can I foster to adopt, or try before I adopt?

Sometimes, and it is worth being clear about what each rescue offers.

• Named foster to adopt programs. A few rescues place an animal with you as a foster with adoption in mind. Mornington Peninsula Dog Rescue runs a Foster-to-Adopt option alongside standard fostering.
• Fostering as a trial. RSPCA South Australia lists a “test run” among its reasons to foster: a chance to trial an animal before committing. Best Friends Felines calls cat fostering like try before you buy.
• Trial periods built into adoption. Canberra Street Cat Alliance adopts out its cats on a two-week trial and fully refunds the adoption fee if the trial is unsuccessful.
• Keeping a standard foster. RSPCA Victoria gives carers priority to adopt; RSPCA WA and AWL NSW let carers apply to adopt their foster animal.

The honest part: in most standard programs the rescue needs carers to hand animals on, so the next one can come out of the shelter. If you want to keep the animal, say so at the start. A rescue can then match you with an animal that suits your home for life. Ask whether the normal adoption fee applies if you keep your foster animal, and note that AWL NSW says that adopting a foster animal can mean you cannot foster again if it does not get on with other animals.

Is fostering right for me?

Fostering suits people who love animals but cannot commit to one for 10 or more years: renters on short leases, people who travel, older people, families wanting to see how a pet fits before adopting. It is less suited to anyone who would struggle to give an animal back. Most carers say the goodbye is hard, and the rescues say so too.

If you are ready to adopt rather than foster, the same rescues list their animals with us. The ones listing older dogs are also the ones to ask about fostering.