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 16th, 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 is scheduled for a much-needed dental procedure on 10/24 at our Grays Ferry Clinic. We’re giving her some nice pain meds until she can get surgery, and she can have some nice soft food that’s easier to chew if that helps her eat more consistently. 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: Walnut Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/07/25 Meet Walnut! He’s handsome! Walnut’s around 9 years old and already neutered, and his owner wasn’t logistically able to care for his medical needs alongside their own poor health. Walnut is a lovely lad but he’s got allergies! He’s got itchy skin with scabby bits we’re trying to heal. Full disclosure: getting allergies under control can be a marathon, not a sprint usually. We’ve started Walnut on a course of steroids and Gabapentin to jumpstart his recovery and keep him comfy so he can get some relief from his symptoms. If steroids aren’t enough, we’ll try something different! Walnut also really needs a good dental cleaning, so his Gabapentin will also keep his mouth comfy until we can get him scheduled in the coming weeks.
	Name: Kenshi Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/12/25 Our lovely boy Kenshi’s bouncing back from some ouchies he sustained while outside as a stray. He’s got a couple superficial cuts on his head and around some of his toes that are all healing, and to help his toes in particular feel better, we’ve started him on a short course of pain medication and a special ointment to help his little cuts heal. Kenshi also appears to be at least mostly blind, if it’s not clear from his photos. We ran a couple tests during his exam and he has no flinch response and cannot track any motions, but he can get around pretty well so may or may not pick up on very high contrast/light differences? His eyes seem stable as-is at this time, and we are not sure of the cause of his blindness, but we think he’d appreciate being in foster care while he recoups and awaits his future forever home, as opposed to waiting at the shelter. Kenshi is already neutered and around 1.5-2ish years old, give or take.
	Name: Dusty Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/08/25 This shy but sweet little friend is Dusty! She’s around 8ish months old, still needs to be spayed, and is fighting off a kitty cold! She sure would appreciate getting some more TLC time in foster care, both socially and medically, so she can feel her best and get ready for spay and adoption when she’s feeling better!
	Name: Domino Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/12/25 Domino is so handsome! Such a glorious little tuxie man. He’s around 1-2 years old and still needs to be neutered, but he’s also in the middle of healing a broken leg! We are *hoping* to save the leg by realigning the break and splinting it for proper healing, but we won’t know if our efforts are successful until mid-November, when we plan to take repeat leg x-rays after 4 weeks of splinting said leg. Domino will have weekly check ups at our clinic to make sure his leg is looking okay and to get his splint changed, BUT if at any point a splint turns out to be too tight and a foster sees swelling in his toes, he would need to come back again sooner to get the splint rechanged. Plan B would be amputation, though we are very hopeful with strict “bed rest” (via a big dog crate or sturdy playpen, so he can’t run/jump/climb) and time his leg can heal.
	Name: Roo Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/12/25 Roo is adorable, let’s face it, but she’s also super skinny! We’re not sure if she was just not thriving on the mean Philly streets and had inadequate food access, vs if a metabolic issue was occurring, but so far she seems to be eating pretty well, and her bloodwork done at the city shelter was apparently normal. We’re hoping to get her weight up at least one more pound before we schedule her for spay (so 5lbs+, if not closer to 6). She otherwise seems peppy and is very sweet, just needs a little more TLC before she’s ready for spay and adoption. We think she’s a little under a year old.
	Name: Sophia Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/12/25 Granny Sophia is around 10-11 years old, already spayed, and doesn’t deserve to spend another minute of her senior years at the shelter- she’s ready to be someone’s Golden Girl! She has pending senior labwork to make sure she’s doing well inside and out, and she’s got some dental disease we can address in the nearish future, but as long as she’s eating comfortably in the home we can still start adoption promo for her to try and drum up some interest while she waits.

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 during the following date ranges: November 26–30 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: Seitan, Tofurkey, and Tempeh *VERY URGENT* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/1/25 This tiny trio recently arrived at Grays Ferry! These cuties are on the thin side, and are receiving some dietary supplements for some diarrhea. They’re otherwise eating on their own but need  close monitoring because of how skinny they are, particularly Tempeh (pink collar). These kittens just need to gain some weight and get over their tummy troubles (soft stool), then can be spayed/neutered and promoted for adoption when they’re a little bigger. Update 10/16: Tempeh is still the smallest of the group, and thus her soft stool leaves her less energetic than her siblings. Her weight has been gradually increasing this week, but she’s still so thin! She could go into foster care on her own if that helps her leave sooner, BUT her foster will need to be prepared to provide smaller, more frequent meals (every 4-6 hours if she can’t eat bigger meals less frequently) as well as a short course of subcutaneous fluids and injectable anti-nausea medication to help support her appetite. She gives really good tail hugs and she takes her fluids well, just needs a little more TLC than her two siblings to get her over this hump of feeling yucky! She would benefit from a medically savvy foster, though if a foster can take all three she’ll enjoy having her siblings for company when she’s feeling better.
	Name: Root Beer Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/01/25 Root Beer is such a goober. He sure is going through a time, though. He was found stray and while he was under foot his finder accidentally knock a pot of hot water onto him (purely an accident, they took him to get care immediately after), though thankfully the burns were first degree/superficial damage, so he should recover uneventfully over time! That said, he’s got a naked booty with some scabby bits that are still healing! We presently have him just on vasline 1-2x daily to keep his skin hydrated while it heals. He would also probably really enjoy having a cat friend in the future, once he’s feeling better and after getting tested for FIV/FeLV. Root Beer’s around 2ish months old and already neutered.
	Name: Pizelle, Biscotti, & Pignoli Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: arrival date will be determined once we have a foster lined up to take all three! Pignoli and her littermates Biscotti and Pizelle were found abandoned in an alley. Spending their first few weeks of life on the hard Philly streets, these three are still learning that humans are friends, and adjusting to life as spoiled house kitties. They so far all seem very curious and playful. They’re also very food motivated and LOVE anything with a bell or feather, so we have high hopes about them continuing to quickly coming out of their shells. These three are around 3 months old and are already spayed, but we imagine that they may be a bit skittish for the shelter, so we’re promoting them for foster care ahead of scheduling their arrival. Once we have a foster who can take all three asap after they arrive at our clinic, we will schedule their intake exam! They don’t have an arrival date- we’ll need to know a potential foster’s availability in order to coordinate it.

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: Spider Roll, Red Bean Bun, & Sweet Potato Roll *SUPER Urgent, ringworm* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/14/25 Love an adorable trio? We do, too! What better a way to show your love for this trio than to take them home and help them get through their suspected ringworm! These three are around 5ish weeks and old and have just begun treatment as some of our newest ‘fungal friends.’  You can learn more about ringworm care here!
	Name: Bear & Cane *SUPER Urgent, ringworm* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/05/25 Look at these lovely new friends! Cane and Bear are around 2 months old and were pulled from the city shelter for what we thought were just regular little kitty colds. Turns out, they also have suspicious hairloss and ear mites! The mites are easy- a dose of special medication one and they’ll die off. The URIs? A short course of antibiotics should kick ’em to the curb. The ringworm? That will take a little more time, but we’re starting treatment while awaiting their diagnostic results. Bonus? They’re also both really sweet! Bear is a little more demure but warms up with a few pets and time; Cane is a social butterfly and helps bring Bear out of his shell. We’d love for these two to recover from their ailments in foster care, since we are out of room at our shelter! Look at these two sweeties!! Bear and Cane are the wholesomest little kiddos!
	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.

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: Sakura *Urgent* Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/09/25 Nervous gal Sakura was found abandoned at our clinic earlier in October, and we haven’t been able to successfully get in contact with her owner to see if they’re missing/trying to reclaim her. While she’s not getting reclaim and thus will be starting adoption promo soon, it’s clear poor Sakura is stressed at our clinic- she has no idea what she’s doing here! We’ve started her on Gabapentin to try and help ease her shelter stress, but we’re sure she’d much rather be in a home environment so she can decompress and reset. She’s also a mite bit on the chunky side and needs to lose a few pounds to get down from a current 14lbs to a goal weight of 10lbs! Sakura is around 4 years old and is already spayed.
	Name: McNulty Location: Grays Ferry Clinic Date of Arrival: 10/12/25 McNulty’s feelin’ a little salty at our clinic – he’s friendly and wants to have positive interactions, but he’s just too overstimulation by all the sounds and smells and commotion at our clinic. We’re hoping to retry his intake exam on 10/16, after he’s had a couple days to onload some nice Gabapentin (given via food) into his system, but we think he may fare better emotionally/mentally in foster care. McNulty is around 1-2ish years old and still needs to be neutered.

Old City Adoption Center

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

	Name: Calypso Location: Old City Adoption center Date of Arrival: 9/28/25 Calypso is a nervous little guy around 8ish years old. He was surrendered to the city shelter prior to arriving at PAWS because his owner was no longer logistically able to care for him. He’s described by his owner as independent and not a lap cat per se, but he is friendly and he will come out of his hidey hut at our clinic when folks give him attention! As soon as you walk away, though, he’s back in his hut. We think he’ll have a nicer time awaiting his forever home in foster care! Calypso is taking some Gabapentin in his food to help with shelter stress, but he’s otherwise not on any other medication at present.
	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: Hope Location: Old City Adoption Center Date of Arrival: 9/15/25 Hope is a newer face at our shelter, and we love her already! We already can tell she is a special gal. She has zero teeth, and it’s adorable, but she also has a little distension near the front of her jaw. We sent out a sample of her jaw bone for biopsy and she came back all clear- she just has a funny case of “granny mouth!” She also, per her owner, has weak back legs and as a result, has had some recent litterbox issues in the home- BUT she’s been doing pretty well with a low-sided box here at the shelter. We’ve started giving her monthly injections of Solensia at our clinic, for pain support- and she’s so spry as a result! Hope is chatty and affectionate and loves to smack around a good pipe cleaner toy. Her senior labwork also came back great, though x-rays tell us she likely has arthritis, which makes sense given her age. She may need some additional pain management and low-sided litterbox that’s easier for her granny legs to climb in and out of, but getting some feedback from a foster on what her mobility is like in the home would be helpful. Hope is around 14ish years old and already spayed!
	Name: Lilly & Missy Location: Old City Adoption Center Date of Arrival: 10/6/25 Lilly and Missy are super stressed about being in the shelter after their previous owner needed to surrender them due to allergies in the home. Missy was adopted from PAWS as a kitten and floofy Lilly was adopted a year later from another shelter, but we were able to take them both in to limit the stress on their former family. The pseudo-sisters aren’t bonded, but they do well together, and since they are both equally stressed and shutdown at the shelter we’d love to give them both a break in a less stressful location so we can properly gauge their personalities (essentially we’d hate to give one an escape to foster freedom while the other stays behind and continues to hide). If they show a closer bond at home we can try promoting them together, but overall they just need a break from having to use their customer service face all day.

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!