Adult cats need foster homes while young litters enter the system.

The cat was called Turnip because it just “turned up.”

Emma Brown saw the disheveled gray tabby wandering Country Club Road and became concerned for its welfare, one of several neighbors who tried to befriend the cat and give it food.

“I just couldn’t stand to not do anything,” Brown said. “It wasn’t just me. The whole community took care of her.”

After elu­d­ing capture for weeks, Tur­nip finally was tracked to her home beneath a contractor’s trailer at a nearby construction site – with four kittens.

All five were trapped, and the feline family was handed over to PAWS.

Mom and kittens are doing well; Mama Turnip is friendly and people-oriented, but the kittens still need to be socialized.

Turnip is now up for adoption, but PAWS is facing a shortage of foster homes for other adult cats in the adoption system.

“The more adult cats that are adopted, the more room we’ll have for the others,” said Judy Hartstone, PAWS director.

There’s no room for adult cats, Hartstone said, because it’s “kitten season.”

PAWS currently has some 70 kittens in its care that are not ready to be adopted; the animals are too young and only beginning to move up through the system.

Hartstone likens kittens to babies – they’re cute, but they demand time and effort.

“Kittens need training and require a lot of attention,” she said. “They’re cute but they grow up, and some people aren’t invested in the cat, only the kitten.”

Being a foster family for an adult cat is great for people who like animals but cannot commit to owning one over time, Hartstone said.

Because a stray has spent time at the PAWS Adoption Center on Island Center or elsewhere, prospective foster parents can get to know a cat’s personality before taking it in.

Preventing future surpluses of cats and kittens – and the evantuality that some will be put down for want of permanent homes – comes down to responsible pet ownership.

PAWS urges owners to spay and neuter animals, and to tag/microchip them so that when they do get lost they can be returned.

“All of these cats deserve forever homes,” Hartstone said.

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Borrow a cat

For people who would like to adopt, PAWS has a screening and application process. Temporary foster families are also needed because of the number of cats now waiting for permanent homes. For more information see www.pawsbainbridge.org.