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Gypsy Rose Kim · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 151

I will be bringing my two cats back to Tokyo with me. I've already paid for all the stuff they need to do to enter Japan without being quarantined (about 100,000 yen per cat!), but I'm wondering about vets and apartments and food and supplies and stuff.

I used to live in a Fontana place, and contacted them before I began this whole process. They said I could keep cats in their apartments if I simply paid an extra deposit (one? two months rent? something along those lines). Is this pretty standard? Or do most people just take a place where the landlord doesn't live nearby and keep quiet about it?

Actually, I have nothing but good things to say about Fontana, but most of their places are too tiny for cats, anyway. Ideally, friends and I would live together in a bigger place--but for that, we'd need to go through a Japanese agent.

Please don't say leave them in Korea. I'm not that kind of person, and I've got the money. I'm just curious what people do about renting--being foreign AND having pets seems like two big strikes against me.

Any other pet experiences? Tips?

Quibby84 · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 643 Location: Japan

I would be the happiest person ever if I could have a pet...and EVERYONE seems to be walking their dog around here, but most apartments dont allow animals...it is weird because so many people seem to have pets. I see a lot of cats as well but they are usually all beat up and are kept outside.
We had to leave our cat in the US and I thought I would never recover...although I did eventually when I realized that she had a good home.
I would say that if you can afford to bring them and know and way then do it! You dont want to be spending $700 on a cat here (to buy one).
About vets and stuff..I dont know although there are animal hospitals everywhere.

Sage · Joined: 09 Apr 2003 Posts: 144 Location: Iwate no inaka!

Im trying to figure out how, when I leave Japan, I'm going to get my cats back to the US... ugh...

Quibby84 · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 643 Location: Japan

I was looking into all that when we came to Japan because I thought about bringing our cat but we didnt do it. I think that it is much easier to bring animals from Japan to the US versus the other way around.

madeira · Joined: 13 Jun 2004 Posts: 182 Location: Oppama

Vets and food and supplies: no problem. My vet in Japan doesn't speak any English, but it has been fine. His rates are quite a bit lower than any other vet my cat has been to, as well. My only complaint is that he didn't want to medicate my cat for her high blood pressure and thyroid problem. He just thought it was part of old age. Not sure if that's a normal opinion for a vet in Japan.

Housing... I think you should talk to a Japanese agent. If you're going to live in Yokohama/Yokosuka, my agent can probably help you out. PM me if you're interested. It's difficult for everyone to find a place with pets... and not only in Japan. (The textured, slightly rubbery wallpaper in many Japanese apartments doesn't help cat-owners, either...)

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

My American neighbour has a cat. She lives in a 6 tatami room, and a 'friend' asked her to look after the cat over Xmas, and then refused to take it back (it was a stray, apparently). My neighbour is a complete pushover, but she loves the cat to pieces and would never get rid of it now. Its a pretty cool cat; she's taught it how to get in and out through the bathroom window so she doesn't have to leave the door unlocked while she's at work, but it loves the tatami and has made a few holes in the Japanese style door she has.

Our landlady has no idea, and I doubt she'd approve if she found out. I have five fish, and I kept them to myself just in case. I didn't tell the cat either, because I leave my bathroom window open from time to time too.

markrendl · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Osaka

The majority of apartments in Japan bar most pets. However, a lot of Japanese simply ignore such and keep them anyway - even dogs.

We had one such guy in our building who flatly denied having a mutt, even when the building association president personally went to his place to directly confront him; he was refused entrance and lied to. There was much muttering by neighbors, but nothing else came of it.

I've kept a cat in two different places, ignoring the rules as well and never had a problem. She's strictly a house cat, so never goes outside. Of course, as others have mentioned, the cat's love scratching up the wood and paper doors. If you're not willing to regularly trim your cat's claws or get it declawed, expect your interior to suffer.

Mark

Zzonkmiles · Joined: 05 Apr 2003 Posts: 309

Grasshopper · Joined: 01 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Japan

Hi Sage,

I mailed my cat back to the US by Nippon Express. He went in a kennel, and I had someone meet him at the airport in the US. Then I followed a couple weeks later. There were temperature restrictions, and it was winter, so I was trying to get him back before it got too cold.

I had no trouble getting what he needed at the vet, who filled out the paper for the airline.

The cost was 80000-90000 yen. Expensive. But my cat is now home with my family and happy.

PM me if you have any questions.

G

Gypsy Rose Kim · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 151

Hi, guys. Thanks for the advice. I hadn't thought of the tatami and wallpaper. They're good about using the scratching post now, but it's something I really have to consider.

I was thinking of just not saying anything. Seems like the best way.

Eva Pilot · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:50 am Post subject:

Surely a kabuto would be just as fun and much less hassle?

User N. Ame · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 222 Location: Kanto

madeira · Joined: 13 Jun 2004 Posts: 182 Location: Oppama

Moving overseas is just one unpleasant day. When I left my cat with my parents for the first contract, she had an exremely unpleasant year. She was fed, sure.. but she didn't bond with them at all. She went from being a chatty, friendly animal to one who hid in the basement all day.

I had a similar problem with my last horse. The people taking care of him didn't know him previously, and thought his attacking behavior was normal for him.

So, you have a point... but some animals bond more to their people than their surroundings. Lots of people can't find suitable new homes for their animals, either. They're a responsibility that lasts their lifetime, and that can be a very long time.

User N. Ame · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 222 Location: Kanto

madeira · Joined: 13 Jun 2004 Posts: 182 Location: Oppama

Oh good grief. Cats and horses live into their 20's and 30's quite easily. Dogs don't live so long, but still... I'm pretty sure most people get pets a long time before they realise that moving abroad is part of the plan.

These people are trying to do the best they can, and paying a premium for it. My cat is fine, thanks. The other animals I know that have moved overseas are fine, too. I only know of one scary situation, and that's when a cat escaped its cage at the airport.

Your friend obviously didn't secure the house well enough. Cats are supposed to be kept indoors for at least 3 months in any new house. The SPCA/Humane Societies in North America don't recommend they be let out at all.