Joey’s Feline Friends

Joey’s Feline Friends is a bit under the radar. I found them after scouring the Internet for adoptable animals in Oahu.
The no-​kill rescue shelter was the only choice for my family when we were looking for a pet. We visited the cats available for adoption at the Petco locations but chose to visit the feline compound to learn what the rescue was about, and choose just the right addition to our family.
My call went to voicemail & rather than leave the advised message, I drove over. I enjoyed learning about the history of the rescue & meeting the people who help care for these defenseless animals on a daily basis. I spent the entire day with the cats. I fell in love with them all. Tedra & the volunteers truly love & care for each & every animal. My heart goes out to them!
In the end, I chose the first cat I laid eyes on – an older, more mature fur baby. She is spayed, microchipped, given all her shots & flea meds, even her nails were clipped. She is adorable, well-​behaved and lovely. We are so happy to have her in our family. And maybe once we are more settled, I’ll be back for another.

This is for the Pearl City Petco location. Military members, be wary.
My husband and I were looking for a playmate for our 3 month old kitten. As we were looking at the different cats, the volunteer named Patti started asking us a few questions. Then a few more. Until she was basically asking us our life stories. We are both active duty and once Patti found this out, she seemed to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder, explaining that should we rehome the cat we adopt or leave it on the island after we PCS (neither of which we would do), she would contact our commanding officers and press legal charges. Now she could have meant to just let us know, but it came off more as a threat. I understand this is a common thing for service members to do, however it’s not exactly encouraging to us to want to do business with her.
We finally found a cat that we thought would get along well with our kitten and started filling out the paperwork. That’s when we saw that Joey’s Feline Friends asks service members to put the name of their commanding officer and their CO’s phone number, their unit name, and their DoD ID number or last 4 of your social security number. Are you kidding me? This is a nonprofit organization I had not heard of until that day. I was not going to just give out such personal information when we were ADOPTING A CAT. Civilians aren’t required to put all of their employers information or their social security number. Why should the military? As long as you have the name of the adopter and their command, you don’t need their DoD ID number to track them down. However, because we weren’t willing to provide this information, we were suddenly unfit to adopt this cat. So, congratulations, Patti, that is yet another cat that is going to be without a home because you were «uncomfortable» with our discomfort of giving you our personal identification information.
Another issue I have with this organization is that, in the event you can’t keep the cat, you are not allowed to rehome it yourself or give it to the Humane Society. Instead, you have to take it back to JFF, or else they will press charges if they find the cat with its matching microchip. Basically, even after you pay the adoption fee and take your new pet home, it’s still not actually yours. Should something suddenly change and you can’t keep your pet, they don’t have enough faith in your pet-​keeping ability to responsibly rehome it.
I have a lot more gripes with the way this organization is run, specifically in how difficult it seems to be to adopt from them, and I am not the only one with complaints about the Pearl City location. I give money through the CFC to keep pet shelters from having to kill pets that don’t get adopted, I have taken stray cats and kittens to the humane society so they can at least get fixed and end the cycle of reproducing for those few cats, I have had a lot of experience owning cats, however, JFF thinks I am unfit to adopt from them because I refused to give them excessively personal information that they only ask as collateral from service members. I do believe in adopting animals and plan to do so in the future. But if you’re military, I don’t recommend JFF.

This is a review for their location at the Pearl City Petco.
This was our second stop in our search for a new addition to our family. We were beyond excited at the possibility of getting another black cat… That was until we asked for assistance in seeing the cats. We were told by an employee that they’re not allowed to show the cats, and if we wanted to see the cats we would have to come back on a certain day at a certain time… But not all of the cats in the kennels are up for adoption, some may already be adopted. WHAT? We were beyond confused. To top it off, we were told there is an interview process. Our cats are fed well balanced food, get proper vet care and shots, box scooped on the daily, playtime, etc., but I was still offended. We treat our cats as if they were our kids, but this is an adoption process, not a job interview. What do you need to interview me for if you’ve seen how I interact with the cats?
We left with the paperwork for Joey’s and the times of when we could come back and actually meet with the cats, but before we even made it to the car, we were ready to keep looking. From the limited time schedule to the cats possibly not available for adoption and topping it off with an interview process, we felt it was far too much of a hassle to adopt. Especially when you work and getting to Pearl City in traffic isn’t a quick trip. I’m not sure what their adoption rate is, but we were quick to change our minds about adopting from Joey’s.
We went to a few other places and finally found our new addition (whom we’ve had for two months now).
My two stars are for the cleanliness of the kennels. Most cat adoption kennels at Petco or PetSmart have the cats playing where they poop… An entire kennel of litter. The setup Joey’s has is a nice one for the cats. I appreciated that.

There is nothing I can say that even comes close to describing the care and love that Tedra and her loyal army of volunteers commit to the shelter. From feeding orphaned babies in the wee hours of the morning, to cleaning kennels, vet visits, and adoption events, they do it all!
When my daughter was just five years old, we decided she could try to show that she was old enough to have a cat. She volunteered at JFF under Tedra’s patient tutelage, and was able to adopt the kitten of her dreams. Since then, she has also fostered and «foster-​failed» a few others, resulting in a very happy and loving cat population at the house. Also, Tedra has always offered guidance and insight that have been invaluable to our family.
JFF is not just a shelter but a source of education regarding trap/​neuter/​return, behavioral advice, vet recommendations, and a safe place for lost pets who make their way there. Excellent!

We got our sweet baby at JFF, a no kill shelter. We also began to volunteer there as we fell in love with so many of the furballs. This shelter was born out of love for all animals especially cats. Currently the shelter desperately needs volunteers and funding to carry on vital rescue efforts.

I can’t get enough of JFF. Fostering rules! We just said goodbye to two of our foster cats and hello to another. When you go to an organization where the founder has literally built another house for the cats to live — that’s no fly-​by-​night deal. As a foster volunteer, I enjoy ²⁴⁄₇ support and all the aloha I can handle.
If you’re not sure whether or not to adopt, give fostering a try. There is an application and interview and flexible schedules (for vacation, visitors, «me» time).
Contact JFF today.

What an awful experience we had in the Pearl City Petco courtesy of JFF. The main lady of the day, red hair tons of make up, even grabbed my 4 year olds arm and twisted it when she grabbed the kittens paw when the cat put its paw out to play. My husband went to pull my childs hand away saying, you have to be careful you don’t hurt him. Before he could get to our child’s hand, crazy cat lady grabbed her arm so hard it spun or child around and screamed at her «YOU’LL BREAK HIS ARM.» She’s lucky I didn’t break her arm for putting her hands on my child like that! Needless to say, we adopted feom Pet Friends in the Kapolei Petco instead. $ 50.00 cheaper and a heck of a lot friendlier. I seriously thought about calling the police after she assaulted my child.

Our family had adopted a Cat from Petco in Pearl City we have had our little guy now for about three weeks. The staff (Volunteers) are very nice, helpful and really care about finding each and every cat a forever, loving home. My husband and I really liked that they give you a «Free» Visit with a vet of your choice out of two they have contracts with. However, the location in Mililani, the people were very nice over the phone I called up and scheduled our boy an appointment for the well check and the person that helped me schedule the appoint didn’t inform me that I only had 7 days to bring him in and by the time of my appointment it had almost been 12 days (that was the first available appointment), the only reason I knew about the 7 day time frame is because I had to call back to reschedule as my husband work schedule had changed and I wasn’t going to be able to make the appointment. I was informed if I had made the appointment it would of been out of pocket because it had been more then 7 days, I had no idea till I called to cancel the appointment of this time line. In the contract we sign it says 7 or 14 days, but doesn’t specify what either of the two locations policy’s are in regards to the time line our little guy has an appointment at our vet on base come the end of month for the remainder of his shots and we will be taking him in this upcoming weekend to Petco, to get his second vaccine. We would still highly recommend Joey’s Feline Friends Just an FYI to the Vet Policy!

We love JFF. We adopted our boy kitty from them in October. We wanted an older, all black cat, cause we know older cats have a harder time getting adopted and also black cats are the least adopted out color of cat. Ashley was able to find us a cat right away. We did foster to adopt to make sure he fit in with our family well and she even checked back in with us to see how he was adjusting.
It’s sad that they have to have rules against adopting to younger people but with them getting so many returns (24 in one week back in Oct) they have to be really picky on who they adopt out to.
Like the people who adopted our cat first, ditched him at the Humane Society when they got orders back to the mainland. The Humane Society called JFF to get their cat and they were already over capacity. Our JFF kitty is an awesome cat and the family who left him behind are really missing out.
They really are low on funds and volunteers and if they had more, they could save even more cats!

Joey’s is named after the founder’s former pet cat, and lives in his memory as a rescue no-​kill shelter for felines in need. Death in the family and no one wants the former owner’s cat? Cat left for dead in a cardboard box tossed in a dumpster? Former JFF kitty who was abandoned on the side of a road? We’ve seen them all and then some at Joey’s.
Sometimes we get some newborn kittens like most shelters, but often times it’s abandoned and abused cats. When I say «we» I mean that I volunteer for Joey’s at the Petco in Pearl City (where many cats ready for adoption are available). My boyfriend and I come in most Sundays and clean the cages, litter boxes, and refill the food and water bowls before the adoption time starts (1pm-​6pm). Each cat available for adoption has a microchip and is spayed/​neutered.
One great thing about Joey’s is the application process. They are very strict and want to make sure that their cats are going to the best possible homes. There is a period of time where people who do get approved get to see if the cat they want to adopt is right for their home, lifestyle, other pets, etc. If it doesn’t work out within a week or so, then they can bring the cat back.
One of the worst things Joey’s tries to prevent from happening is people who leave the island deciding to abandon their cat either at the ASPCA, out in the wild, at a friend’s house, etc. Even though Joey’s attempts to make sure these types of people (mostly military considering we come to the island for a few years and then leave) understand that they cannot do this if they want to adopt from JFF. Once you adopt a cat, it is a member of your family and not considered a piece of furniture you can leave behind because you find the airport process too difficult, or don’t want to pay the fees involved with moving an animal.
Because they wanted to prevent more cats from becoming abandoned this way, JFF recently implemented a new rule that no military people below 26 years of age may adopt a cat. I’m assuming this is because young military are the ones who have historically abandoned their pets when they leave the island. Now I’m not sure if this is a hard and fast rule, or if you as a true hardcore pet-​lover/​military member can convince the adoption volunteers to let you adopt. I’m just letting you know how deathly serious JFF is about giving their cats forever homes.
We’ve had heartbreak in the past from a pair of siblings (cats) who got abandoned in the wild and one of the volunteers found the sister starving to death on the side of a road. We never found her brother, so we assume he died needlessly because of someone’s selfish act. Fortunately JFF nursed the sister back to health and she is now safe and sound in a forever home. JFF is truly the best shelter you can go to on the island if you are looking for a well cared for feline to add to your family.
Unilocal 365#-035/365

I adopted a cat from Joey’s at Petco in Pearl City. These guys do great work and everyone should adopt from them! My poor boy came with ear mites (common in shelter cats) but Joey’s was kind enough to give me medicine for him! He is the most amazing cat ever! How his previous owners could ever have abandoned this big fluffy ginger and white kitty is beyond me! He is now best buddies with my other cat (Wally) that I adopted from the Humane Society and he is loving his new spoiled life! Thank you Joey’s Feline Friends for saving his life so that Chestnut (formally known as Leo) could find his forever home!

Unilocal Challenge 365 #82/​365
This is the season to be jolly; and to many it is a time for giving. Many times, we forget there are others in need, like animals; cats (feline) to be specific.
I have cats of my own which took me to Petco in Pearl City. There I see Joey’s Feline Friends with carriers holding cats and kittens. They are looking for homes. Each cat is spayed or neutered. They are clean and you know they are well tended to as they are all so friendly. Some were shy but I know they will come around as friendly, over time.
All of Joey’s work is charitable and managed by volunteers. Their facility is clean with over 300 cats and kittens.
I had to get some cat food for my kitties so I got a bag for Joey’s family along with some towels and linens from Savers. I know they will be able to use it and this is my merry christmas to those kitties over at Joey’s!

They’re doing amazing work.

«Home For The Holidays» promotion:
Adopt a cat 3+ years old & they will waive the $ 60 rehoming fee! All they ask is the donation of a 10-​lb bag of cat food which’ll help struggling ‘ohana (families) continue to take care of their furry keiki (children).
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Joey’s Feline Friends (JFF) has a new Facebook page!
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Lysandra Cook is a professional photographer whose daughter has been a regular volunteer at the shelter for the last several years. Many of the cat photos featured here and on their Facebook page are taken by her.