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 October 30th, 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: Pork Chop *URGENT* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 9/29/25 Pork Chop is one of our oldest residents right now! She’s almost 16 years old and found abandoned at a partner rescue before it was discovered she was actually a PAWS alum. Pork Chop just had a much-needed dental procedure on 10/24 at our Grays Ferry Clinic. We’re giving her some nice pain meds for post-op comfort. One side note is that she also has some cysts around her lips that give them a blue look- this is just due to the cysts’ coloring, no need to panic over her blue lip liner! Pork Chop is a bit on the sensitive side, but she’s also really really affectionate and nice, and we think getting into a foster home that will be less stressful than being at our clinic will do a lot of good for her mental health.
	Name: Guinevere *URGENT* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 4/22/2025 Sweet Guinevere, our senior muppet granny, needs a moderately medically savvy foster transfer asap! She’s around 14 years old, already spayed, has but ONE remaining tooth (and she rocks it), and is getting through some itchies with her ears. She’s on ear drops for a week and an antiviral oral liquid medication for 4 weeks, plus a short course of a steroid, phew! We’ll recheck her at the halfpoint point of the antiviral’s course, so at the very end of October. Her current foster’s work schedule is changing, so they’re no longer able to keep up with Guin’s care, and we’re looking for new foster placement asap!
	Name: Cher *URGENT* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 4/22/2025 Calling all cat whisperers! Do you consider yourself a bit of a feline expert? Maybe even a black belt when it comes to giving medicine? Then Cher needs you! 99% of the time, this gentle 8 year old is a total sweetheart — affectionate, social, and endlessly friendly. Unfortunately, she suffers from severe skin allergies (hence her ouchie eye), and currently needs multiple medications to help calm things down. As you can guess, Cher is *not* a happy camper when it’s time to take those meds, but she really needs them in order to feel better! That’s why we’re looking for a cat-savvy foster home, ideally one with a second person who can team up for medication time and keep this loving diva feeling comfortable and cared for. Her meds are continuing as usual at the shelter, but this stressful environment is tough on her allergies, and we know she’ll have a much smoother recovery once she’s in a calm, cozy home. Allergies like Cher’s can take time to get under control, but if you can stick with her through the ups and downs, you’ll get to watch her blossom into her happiest, healthiest self — and you’ll have the joy of knowing you helped her get there! Cher is eagerly awaiting your head scritches, so please reach out at foster@phillypaws.org if you can help this sweet girl! You can check out Cher’s social media post here!
	Name: Kitty Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/23/25 Sweet boy Kitty, and yes that’s his name, was so loved by his owner (he comes with a big care package!) but they logistically are no longer about to care for him, so he’s a newer face here at PAWS. Kitty has a history of cholangiohepatitis and IBD as well as a stented bile duct– all presently controlled with a steroid, Prednisolone, and a liver support medication called Ursodiol. He takes both daily indefinitely and takes them in a bit of food! He’s also a smidge nervous but really sweet, so we’d love to get him into foster care asap while he awaits his new forever home.
	Name: Dink Dink Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/22/25 Dink Dink is such a cutie! He’s afflicted by a condition called ‘entropion’- where the eyelid rolls inward just enough for the eyelashes to touch the eyeball. If you’ve ever had eyelashes stuck in your eye, you know it’s not fun! Dink Dink is getting a pain medication and eye ointment for now, and we’re hoping to get him scheduled for a corrective eyelid surgery asap! We will also plan to neuter him at the time of surgery. Once he’s fixed up and recovered post-op he can start adoption promo. Dink is around 2ish years old. Update 10/27: Dink is currently under a quarantine period for medical monitoring (but is currently healthy) until 11/5. He would need to be the only cat in a home during this period, but may be a fit for home with other cats after their quarantine period. Our foster team is happy to talk more with you about the timeline and details.
	Name: Mistoline Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/29/2025 Miss Mistoline is ready for her glow up! 12 year old Mistoline is a beautiful gal, but could use some time in foster care to get some of her sparkle back. Mistoline has some irritated skin on her tummy, possibly from allergies or from her tummy touching the ground (our vets note she could stand to lose about 2 lbs). Her previous owner mentioned that she’s a perfect couch potato who loves people and hasn’t met a recliner she doesn’t love. They also described her as “friendly, and loves to cuddle”! We don’t know if she has spent time with other animals in the past, so we would recommend starting her as a solo pet or introducing her to other pets with slow introductions. Mistoline’s teeth aren’t in the best shape so we’ll also be scheduling a dental procedure for her at our Grays Ferry location. After her dental procedure, she’ll take some pain meds to help any post-op pain.

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!

(Note: these are not their real photos, we just have to protect their identities online)	Name: Wayne & Garth (sitters needed for the below listed dates!) Location: foster care- these pets are not at the shelter! Please email foster@phillypaws.org if you can help. Wayne’s and Garth’s foster parent is in need of a cat sitter to watch them from December 20–January 4. Their foster lives in Center City, about a 10-minute walk from City Hall. The cats are super friendly and easy to care for, and a sitter would just need to stop in once (twice for the Dec-Jan dates) a day to help with food and litter. Per their foster: “The cats’ names are Wayne and Garth, and they’re the bestest and cutest. My normal sitter is out of town, so I’m hoping I can get some help here!”

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: Annabelle & Samara Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/22/25 We are in love with these two!! They’re super soft and adorable, and around 4ish months old. Both kittens are spayed but both will also each need their own eye care, so may need a couple months of fostering. Samara has bad eyes, and needs both removed. Recovery will take a couple weeks on average. Annabelle can likely keep her eyes but her eyelids didn’t develop properly, aka eyelid agenesis. We may pursue outside vet care to get Annabelle a surgery that build her some eyelids, but timing is still TBD. Ideally a foster would be able to take Annabelle to our partner vet to get the surgery done, and it may need to be done in two parts spread a couple weeks apart.
	Name: Hotel, Charlie, Alpha Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/01/25 This cute trio is on kitty cold medication! Hotel (light orange tabby) had a fever last week but his temperature is back down to normal, and now he just needs to finishing medication before he and his littermates can move on to getting bigger and getting ready for spay/neuter surgery. They’re around 3 months old.
	Name: Ginger Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/19/25 Cutie Ginger is around 2 months old and came to PAWS with a badly infected leg that was too damaged to save. She’s recovering from a leg amputation and taking a short course of pain meds during recovery. Once she’s recuperated, we’ll have her come back for a spay procedure (after 11/5), and from there she can start adoption promo!

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: 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.

	Name: Grackle *Safety Net Foster Candidate, savvy foster needed* Date of Arrival: PENDING ARRIVAL ON 10/31, WE ARE STARTING PROMO AHEAD OF TIME Glorious Grackle was adopted earlier this year to a super dedicated and loving owner (Grackle is their world and they have done so much for him!) but they are experiencing a major life hardship right now, and are working to get back on their feet. They’ve enlisted our help to care for Grackle via our Safety Net program until they are able to reclaim him- hopefully in January-ish 2026! We know Grackle as a handsome but kinda scrungly, charismatic though often naughty guy. He doesn’t love being at the shelter- it gives him a little bit of a ‘tude! So we’re starting promo ahead of his arrival in late Oct/early Nov to try and keep his shelter stay short. We’re searching for a foster home that is cat-savvy in regards to overstimulated kitties, and with folks who can keep a close eye on his general health. Grackle is FIV+ and tends to have urinary flare-ups (think cystitis) when he’s really stressed. He also seems to prefer life as an “child” in a pet-free, kid-free space. Being in a stable, quiet home and being on Fluoxetine (kitty Prozac) with his owner have probably been the biggest factors in keeping his moods pretty stable and his stress levels low. While he can still get overstimulated and thus mouthy at times, he can be redirected when he gets a case of The Naughties. His owner has been feeding him an over-the-counter urinary support wet food and he also takes Gabapentin for stressful changes in environment and vet visits. If you’ve got a modicum of cat savviness and can keep good tabs on Grackle’s urinary habits/comfort, hit us up!
	Name: Rutabaga *Urgent* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/23/25 Poor Rutabaga was abandoned in our clinic lobby so we don’t have a ton of info about her history. She is around 2ish years old and still needs to be spayed, but she’s so terrified she won’t leave her hidey hut! We’d like a socially savvy cat foster to take her home and start her world off VERY small, going at her pace for when she wants to interact. We’re hoping just getting her out of the shelter will help alleviate her stress levels, but she will also be taking Gabapentin in her food to help.
	Name: Kemmit & Icarus**Safety Net Foster Candidate, reclaim ~1/29/26* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/26/25 Kemmit and Icarus are from the same home, but can be fostered together or separately! Adorable Kemmit and Icarus are looking for a warm, loving home until late January/early February. Their owner is experiencing a hardship, and has trusted PAWS to care for Kemmit and Icarus until their life is more stable. Kemmit is around seven years old and already spayed. Icarus is about six years old, and will be neutered and have an eye surgery (entropion) while at PAWS. Until his surgery, Icarus will take some eye drops to keep his eyes comfortable. These two are very shy at first, but warm up quickly in a calm environment. His owner also mentions these two have lived and gotten along with small dogs in the past.

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: Miss Marple *Urgent* Location: Old City Adoption Center Date of Arrival: 10/26/25 Miss Marple came from a home where there were a lot of other kitties who looked strikingly similar to her. That said, she did NOT like being around that many kitties, and the stress caused her to spray. When separated in her own room, she would use her litterbox diligently, so we think she may be happiest as an only kitty. At our clinic, though, she’s pretty stressed and hidey- and flighty!- so we’re started her on Gabapentin, which can go in her food. She’s around 2ish years old and is already spayed!
	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.
	Name: Rava Location: Old City Adoption Center Date of Arrival: 10/27/2025 Rava’s a secret sweetheart! She’s medically cleared for adoption but she’s pretty nervous here and would show her best self in a foster home! Rava’s around 6 years old and has reportedly coexisted well with young kids.

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!