Philadelphia Weekly

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Fur sure: Lou Alexander (left) and Lori Horwedel just couldn't say no to these two.

The cat was left out in a hallway in an apartment building on South 47th Street, kicked out by an owner who simply didn't want to care for it anymore. Orange and white with bright yellow eyes, she was appropriately dubbed Hallway Kitty.

Those who lived in the apartment building tried to take care of Hallway Kitty, slipping her food and water, but the cat was terrified, hiding behind a piece of plywood and rarely coming out.

Enter City Kitties.

Lori Horwedel and Lou Alexander founded the organization in August of last year, when they realized they had a knack for finding homes for cats in need. The two, who do most of their work in West Philadelphia, heard about Hallway Kitty from a friend who lived in the apartment building. They knew a woman who'd wanted a longhaired cat, but as soon as she saw Hallway Kitty's photo and heard her story, she said she was perfect.

And how has life been for the cat now known as Lucy Hallway?

"This cat is living the high life," says Alexander. "We get updates every couple of weeks. She has her little Burberry collar. She gets brushed every day.

"It's my favorite story."

Horwedel and Alexander have had about 35 success stories like that since they founded City Kitties. The two already had cats in their West Philadelphia apartment when they came across a friend's post on his LiveJournal explaining that someone had dumped kittens in his backyard. The two debated it for about an hour before deciding to take the cats in.

"I had a cat growing up," says Alexander, who's a grad student at Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice. "But I didn't know I had any interest in rescuing them. I adopted a cat from someone, and then another cat showed up on my porch. After that I was like, well, I can't keep them, but I want to keep helping them."

Horwedel has more of a background with working with animals, having been a vet tech for the last eight years. Most of the kittens City Kitties takes on are from Horwedel's office, as people dump boxes of unwanted kittens there overnight.

"My friend, who also works at the vet, usually says, 'Okay, we're going to test them and then give them to you,'" Horwedel says. "We try to really take the hard-luck kitties in. It's hard when they come in. They're so tiny. I usually end up taking them even if I say I don't want to take any more kitties."

Both say there's nothing that separates them from others who do the same thing.

Sometimes becoming a cat lady doesn't look so bad.

It isn't difficult to find homes for the kittens they rescue. But the older cats sometimes pose a problem. They've had a cat that's been in a foster home since March, and another cat staying with them who has cerebellar hypoplasia, a type of brain damage that affects balance and coordination.

"He walks a little funny, and he's a weird guy, but he's a great kitty," Horwedel says. "He's really cute-he walks in a circle and then falls down."

Getting a cat from City Kitties is a longer process than going to a shelter. The pair screens prospective owners carefully, doing vet checks and getting a reference. The pair gets money from donations and through a small adoption fee.

"It's a lot of work," Horwedel says. "But then there are people who do this out of their own pocket who don't get any donations, who don't get any help, who have kids and families."

"These cats are our kids," Alexander says. "Really, we can't complain. We're so new to it, and there are so many people doing more than we do."