Our cats and kittens most urgently in need of foster are listed below. Every time an animal leaves into foster care, it opens a space in our shelters to save another in need. You are truly changing lives: not just for these cats, but also for others whose lives depend on a spot at PAWS.

If you are new to fostering with us, please apply here to get started. If you’ve fostered with PAWS before, you can email foster@phillypaw.org for the link to schedule a foster meet & pick-up appointment if you don’t have the link already. When you arrive to meet or pick up potential fosters, please bring a carrier with you (if you do not have a carrier, let us know). We will provide you with a sample of what the cat has been eating here in the shelter, along with the cat’s paperwork and any meds they may be on.

For a refresher on PAWS’s foster policies and procedures, view our online orientation here.

Read on to find your next foster cat!

(updated November 17th, 2025)

 

Urgent Medical & Behavior Cats

These cats need to finish their medical recovery to become healthy enough for adoption. They will heal faster and be much happier in a home than in the shelter.

	Name: Bingo *URGENT, special placement needed* Location: Old City Adoption Center Date of Arrival: 5/04/2025 Bingo was the name-O! ….of a cat needing foster. This sweet guy is in need of a special foster home! Unfortunately, he has some odd snacking habits- fabric, shoelaces, human food, blankets, rugs, etc.. We suspect he may have Pica, but would love to see how he is doing in a foster home that can house him in a restricted space with limited fabric options for him to chew, with folks who are Type A about tidyness, and who are able to still give Bingo the mental and physical enrichment he needs. (MINIMALISTS! We need you!!) We are hoping by greatly removing his options to chew and instead subbing in playtime, enrichment, and attention, Bingo will feel less inclined to get “creative” about how to keep himself busy. His previous owner also said he is the biggest love bug! Bingo is a little under a year old, already neutered, and while he has previously lived with cats, we think -for now- it may be a better option to have him in a pet-free foster space, to rule out stress from other animals as a contributing factor for his past behavior. We have Bingo on a hypoallergenic diet (no treats, PAWS will provide the diet) to see if potential GI issues could contributing to his suspected Pica issue. The diet will be until further notice, and we’ve also recently started Bingo on new medication to try and help as well.
	Name: Rosemary *URGENT* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 11/12/25 Rosemary’s such a sweetheart who needs a moderately med-savvy foster’s help! She’s already spayed but has a grade 4 (out of 6) heart murmur and needs a cardiology visit to ensure she’s in a good place to sedate for a super urgent dental procedure! Her mouth is in rough and we have her on pain medication until it can be addressed; we just want to make sure it is safe to sedate her before doing so. Rosemary’s original estimate had her around 4ish years old, but it’s very possible she may be much older. She loves cheek scritches and in her better days she’ll be a very fluffy gal, but upon arrival at the city shelter she was so matted she needed to be shaved down- so she’s looking a little naked right now!
	Name: Chuck Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 11/09/25 This is Chuck. We love Chuck, and you should, too. He’s got the best cheeks! He’s around 4ish years old, already neutered, and has a very charismatic meow. He also has a little hole in his armpit! No idea how that got there! We’re putting a special cream on the area until we can get him booked for wound repair surgery to close the hole. Then once he’s all healed up he can start adoption promo. In cases where an animal has a wound of unknown origin like Chuck’s, the Health Dept recommends keeping them away from other animals for 120 days- for Chuck, this would be until 2/27/2026. If he’s not adopted by 12/27/25, though, we will test him for FIV/FeLV in case it was another cat who’d injured him.
	Name: Miso Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 11/12/25 Handsome Miso is being treated for a persistent kitty cold! He’s getting a once-daily oral liquid antibiotic and a set of eye drops twice daily right now, but if we can’t get his symptoms to fully resolve on antibiotics alone we may consider sedating him for a polyp check, or he could just be what’s called a ‘chronic rhinitis’ kitty, TBD! Miso otherwise is such a sweetheart. He’s a ~4-year-old charmer who comes pre-neutered!
	Name: Nona Pine Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 11/07/25 Nona’s a lovely little lady around 8-10ish years old, give or take, and she’s recovering from a recent dental procedure! Her diet is temporarily modified for a couple weeks post-op and she’ll be taking some very nice pain meds for the first few days after surgery, and then once she’s recovered she can start up adoption promo! She’s a smidge shy at first but really sweet after you sit with her for a few minutes.

Cats/Kittens in Need of Foster Transfer or Sitter

These kitties are already in foster, but need a new foster home or a foster sitter to avoid having to come back to the shelter!

	Name: Oscar *needs hospice foster transfer by 12/21/25 at the latest!* Location: foster care- this pet is not at the shelter! Please email foster@phillypaws.org if you can help. Our sweet boy Oscar is FeLV+ and we suspect he has developed lymphoma. We took x-rays recently and see an enlarged heart in addition to swollen lymph nodes, so he likely has a heart condition in addition to his lymphoma. Treatment options are very limited at this stage, since medication we’d typically use to calm the lymphoma symptoms (steroids) could exacerbate his heart condition, so we are going to focus on palliative care for Oscar, and just keep him comfy in foster care until he tells us when he’s ready to move on to his next adventure, so to speak. We are also limited on what diagnostics we can perform, since Oscar gets stressed during vet visits and isn’t a good candidate for things like repeated sedation, so we don’t know exactly what heart condition(s) he has, or what the prognosis/timeline would exactly be. It could be weeks, or maybe a couple months- we don’t know, but we’re determined to make them as comfy and happy for Oscar as possible! Oscar is a big, beautiful orange boy around 4ish years old, and he’s already neutered. His FeLV is likely compounding what his immune system is experiencing, and since he’s tested positive for Feline Leukemia/FeLV, he should be in a cat-free space at this time. Oscar right now is feeling pretty good, though! He is active, he loves food, he is very playful and affectionate, and while he tends to get a little overstimulated in a new space, once adjusted he is quite polite about making it clear when he doesn’t want to be picked up or petted in a particular spot. He seems to get a little stressed on days when he gets less attention, so if you’ve got multiple folks in the home to love on him, or work from home so he’ll feel less lonely, he would love to have the attention! Oscar loves toy time and he has been known to leap 2 feet straight in the air to go after a wand toy. His quality of life right now is pretty good, and the main symptom we’ve been seeing (thus far) that tipped us off to his diagnosis is occasional coughing. Want some more info? Hit us up via foster@phillypaws.org- we’re happy to chat more!
	Name: Hey Yo *sitter needed 11/24 – 11/28* Location: foster care- this pet is not at the shelter! Please email foster@phillypaws.org if you can help. Hey Yo is a shy gal at our clinic, but she’s thriving in foster care! Her foster parent will be away for the Thanksgiving holiday, so we need to find her sitter coverage to avoid having her return to our shelter! Since change can be scary for Hey Yo we’d love to find something to drop in and check on her a couple times daily, for feeding, litterbox scooping, some scritchies if she’s feelin’ it, and to get her twice-daily dose of Gabapentin, which can be mixed into her meals! Hey Yo is around 12 years old and already spayed- she should be  a fairly lowkey gal to help out! Her foster’s home is located in center city, around the corner from 22nd and Walnut streets.

Kitten Litters (Including Nursing Moms)

These young kittens need a foster home until all are ready for adoption. Some have come in with a nursing momma! Larger litters can be hard to place, and the most helpful option is to take an entire litter so that we open an entire kennel, only take up one foster home, allowing us to immediately save another litter. For kittens without a mom, we are open to separating litters of 4 or more, but we will not split up litters of 3 or less, and we will not pull out singles to send to foster care.

	Name: Yeti + 5 (Quill, Bandit, Fosse, Prius, Genie) *URGENT* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 11/09/25 We just gave a check up to momma Yeti and her babies on 11/13 after noticing they’d all lost a little weight that morning, and we realized that while Yeti is producing milk (our original concern), it’s running through her nuggets- they have GI upset and one vomited, the poor nugget! Yeti very dutifully cares for her kiddos, but we need a foster home who can bottle feed the babies IF they continue losing weight despite the tummy support meds we are starting. Momma had soft stool when she first came in, which has resolved, but now her kittens have developed soft stool/GI upset. We gave them anti-nausea medication and are starting them on two tummy support meds (fancy pre/probiotics, given via syringe). We are hoping it’s just the stomach upset/increasing pooping frequency that’s caused the babies’ weight loss today, but if it turns out they’re not nursing enough on their own, then we may need to have a foster jump in with bottle feeding so they can catch back up.

Ringworm Cats and Kittens

These cats are recovering from a skin infection that’s easily treatable in an isolated home environment. Caring for these kitties is easy and just takes careful persistence and a separate space in your home. Read out our foster parent guide to ringworm to learn more!

	Name: Owl Bear, Pseudo Dragon, & Jake *SUPER Urgent, ringworm* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 11/10/25 These three handsome nuggets are Owl Bear, Pseudo Dragon, and Jake! We were on a little bit of a D&D kick with these names, and then Jake just kind of happened.. But anyway! These three are a smidge nervous at our clinic, and they’re being treated for suspected ringworm. We imagine they’ll have a much, much nicer time recovering from their fungal friends infection in a home, as opposed to at the shelter! They’re all around 4ish months old and otherwise pretty healthy, but cannot yet be neutered because of their ringworm treatment, so they instead are eligible to start pre-adoption promo asap!
	Name: Hobgoblin *SUPER Urgent, ringworm* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/12/25 Adorable goober Hobgoblin is being treated for suspected ringworm- he lit up like a disco ball under our Woods Lamp (which checks for a ringwormy green glow in fur). We’ve started treatment but a still-pending diagnostic culture would confirm our suspicions. Hobgoblin otherwise doesn’t seen to think there’s anything ‘off’ about him – he loves attention and playtime with people! Since he’s also otherwise in good shape, he could start pre-adopt promotion asap, to try and get him into an adoptive home before ringworm clearance occurs. Hobgoblin is around 3 months old and not yet neutered.
	Name: Zip *SUPER Urgent, ringworm* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 9/18/25 Zip is a lovely little lady around 3.5 months old, and she’s recently begun treatment for ringworm! She’s already spayed, so has started adoption promo and can be adopted normally despite her ringworm treatment- we can follow up with an adopter for free post-adoption. This love bug is super lovely and friendly and would love to bust out of our treatment trailer to finish her treatment in a foster home!

Shy, Stressed, and Safety Net Program Cats

These cats are very sensitive to the stress caused by the loud shelter environment and need a loving home setting to relax and let their personalities emerge. Learn more about our Safety Net Foster Program here.

Old City Adoption Center

These cats are waiting for foster care from our Old City location!

	Name: Mocha Location: Old City Adoption Center Date of Arrival: 10/2/25 We’ve known Mocha her whole life! She was adopted from PAWS as kitten in 2022, and was recently returned due to house soiling issues. Her previous home had some stressors that may have contributed to these behaviors. We’re hoping to give Mocha a chance to reset in a quieter environment. We’re hoping to find a foster who can help us better understand how she does in a new space. She’s pretty shut down at our clinic, so she’s taking a low dose of gabapentin mixed in her food twice a day.
	Name: Eugenia Location: Old City Adoption Center Date of Arrival: 9/25/25 Meet Eugenia! She’s a cutie around 4ish years old, give or take, and she’s already spayed. She’s a little conflicted about attention at our clinic- she likes it, but gets nervous/startled and retreats, then comes back out, rinse and repeat so we think she’d have a nicer time in foster care. She previously tested FeLV+ at her prior shelter, but recently tested negative on one of our basic Snap Combo tests that check for FIV and FeLV viruses in cats. We tested her again via PCR and she was negative, suggesting a regressive form of FeLV — ask PAWS staff for more info! For now she should be the only kitty in her space. She’s also a smidge on the chunky side so could use some basic diet and exercise!
	Name: Nala Location: Old City Adoption Center Date of Arrival: 10/31/25 Poor Nala returned to PAWS when a family member moved in that had severe cat allergies. She’s around 8 years old and is understandably a little nervous in the shelter. Her prior family said she spent time with another female cat and a big dog, though she wasn’t the biggest fan of the dog. She’d love to land in peaceful home where she can decompress, regain her confidence.

Social Cats (including FAST Candidates)

These sociable cats need a foster home! NOTE: If you are taking a foster cat that’s a FAST program candidate, it can be dropped off at our PetSmart or Old City locations for adoption within 2-3 weeks when they’re healthy, since we need to keep those locations filled with adoptable kitties!

Please check back later!