Learn Turkish: Kedi pati izleri bırakmışsa onu takip etmek için zamanımız var. - If the cat left paw prints, we have time to follow it.

Both mean "if it left," but they carry different nuances. Using bıraktıysa sets up a straightforward, neutral condition. By using bırakmışsa (with the inferential -mış), the speaker adds a sense of deduction or discovery: "If it turns out that it left" or "If we find evidence that it left." It emphasizes that they are actively looking for the paw prints right now to figure out what happened in the past.

Does the word onu refer to the cat or the paw prints?

It refers to the cat. We know this because onu is singular ("it"). If the sentence meant "in order to follow the paw prints" (pati izleri, which is plural), it would have to use the plural pronoun onları ("them") instead.

Why doesn't pati izleri just end in the plural suffix -ler, as in pati izler?

Because it forms an indefinite noun compound. The noun pati (paw) is acting as a modifier to tell us what kind of izler (prints) they are. In Turkish, when you link two nouns together like this without a genitive suffix on the first word, the second word must take the possessive compound suffix -(s)i. Therefore, it becomes iz-ler-i.

Is it necessary to include bizim before zamanımız var to say "we have time"?