Cats touch hearts from time to time (6)
I believe the answer is:
tigers
'cats' is the definition.
(tiger is a kind of cat)
'touch hearts from time to time' is the wordplay.
'touch' becomes 'tig' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'from time to time' indicates alternate letters (letters removed on a regular basis).
The alternate letters of 'hearts' are 'ers'.
'tig'+'ers'='TIGERS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tigers that I've seen before include "strong economies" , "Big striped cats poetically burning bright" , "Large felines of forests" , "Large forest felines" , "Large striped cats" .)