Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Radius]

Does Korea have any exotic looking cats? Id like to buy a kitten when i get there next week.

[Buffalo]

Go to any dirty traditional market (not Dondaemun or Namdaemun) and you will find a box jammed full of flea carrying, starved kittens. Buy one for about 5,000 and take it directly to a vet. They will check it for ear-mites, give it shots (if its old enough), give it some anti-flea liquid and check its poo. This should cost you no more than 40,000 or so. You will feel good that you saved a poor animal from a life of violence, famine, and a poor environment.
My girlfriend and I have done this and so has a few of our friends. It also makes for a great story about how you saved the day for the little critter!

[air76]

We have a Korean street cat that my girlfriend rescued as a kitten and she is by far and away the most wonderful cat in the world. There is no excuse for buying a pet shop animal.

[schwa]

Regular Korean cats pretty much resemble common housecats anywhere (my two are calico).

Exotic breeds (not indigenous) are available at petshops with fancy pricetags & possibly questionable breeding backgrounds.

[Taya]

Also be sure you know everything about how to take the cat back home with you. Depending on your country, there may be quarantine laws and such. Keep in mind that it may be expensive to travel home with your cat. If this is going to be a problem, better not get a cat while you're here.

[Hindsight]

There's an old saying: the cat will find you. If you like cats, sooner or later you will run into a cat or kitten who needs your help. You do not need to buy one.

But I saw a store with kittens that had fancy breeds at very reasonable prices. This is not something to sneer at. It is a good thing for Korea because these are domesticated cats, Siamese, Persians, Somalis, Russian Blues, etc. Koreans are generally afraid of cats, so these are good, safe kittens for them to learn with.
Some Korean cats bite instinctively, though usually the bite is more like a chew.

If the store or seller does not know how to raise kittens, they are not going to be healthy. Eye problems seem to be common, and easily solved with some antibiotic eye ointment. Part of the problem is they think that they can raise cats on dog food, which lacks taurine. Without taurine you get eye and heart problems.

If you think you will have a cat in Korea, order some amoxicillin for fish online, a bottle or two, and bring it with you. Amoxicilllin is the standard antibiotic for cats; just adjust for weight -- cats tolerate large doses.

http://www.amazon.com/Fish-Mox-Amoxicillin-250-Caps/dp/B0002YF9UA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1262085757&sr=8-1

Believe it or not, Korean vets cannot prescribe medicine from a pharmacy and do not have oral antibiotics. If your cat needs antibiotics, they will expect you to bring it in once a day for a shot at 10,000 won a shot.

I tried to get some amoxicillin from a pharmacy here and they tried to sell me some expensive bee stuff, royal jelly, as an antibiotic!

It wouldn't hurt to go to your local vet an buy some Revolution and bring it with you to treat fleas, worms and skin mites.

As to Taya's comment, there are also cats available from other Dave's posters, typically already with shots, spayed, etc. This is also a very good route.

What you need to do is get a chip and a rabies shot shortly after you get your cat and you should not have too many problems taking the cat with you.

Korean feral cats can be very intelligent and beautiful. The Japanese brought there cats with them. This may be one reason Koreans HATE cats. But ask a Korean why they hate cats, and they won't be able to give you a clear answer, so it really boils down to that they hate cats because other Koreans hate cats, and they hate cats because other Koreans hate cats, and .......... Yet Korea has some of the finest indigenous cats in the world, and they don't realize it.

[ytuque]

[pkang0202]

They have Scottish Fold's here. Can be anywhere from 500,000w - 1 million depending on the color, if the ears are straight/folded, etc...

Scottish Folds are awesome.

[Bramble]

Don't buy, adopt.

[The Bobster]

[air76]

[Forever]

[Bramble]

1. ARK doesn't have a shelter, but the ARK volunteers help shelters. Some of the animals listed at the site live at shelters, many others are in foster care, and some are being boarded at vet clinics. ARK also has a page with links to other rescue organizations such as Nabiya, KARA and KAPS.

2. There's a mandatory adoption fee for animals adopted through ARK, and I think its purpose is to deter people who aren't serious about taking care of the animal for life. If people are worried about the adoption fee, what will they do if the animal gets sick and needs an expensive operation or if they decide to leave the country (with all the expenses involved in moving an animal overseas)? Some shelters don't charge a fee, and this seems like a dangerous policy to have because an "adopter" could falsify the application and turn around and sell the animal for profit. On the other hand, some shelters are desperate to adopt animals out and may feel any chance is worth it.

3. ARK, Nabiya and other rescue groups screen applicants to make sure they're making a lifetime commitment and not just "adopting" for a year or two. If something unexpected does happen and the adoption doesn't work out, the rescue group will take the animal back.

4. If you buy a kitten from a market, you've helped that individual kitten but you've also rewarded the seller for doing the wrong thing. Buying creates a demand for more breeding, which condemns a mother cat to a horrible life and creates more homeless/neglected kittens.

5. The difference between a shelter and a pet store is its purpose. A shelter rescues animals, spends money to have them spayed and neutered and to treat any health problems they may have, and then places them in good homes. A pet store pays someone to breed animals and sells them at a marked up price to make a profit. Pet stores provide vet care only to the extent that it's cost effective, don't have animals spayed or neutered, don't screen purchasers to make sure they're serious/committed/know how to take care of an animal, and as far as I know they usually won't take the animal back if there's a problem. Buying from a pet store supports breeding and the exploitation of mother animals. Adopting from a rescue group supports rescue.

6. The adoption fee doesn't reflect the full cost of an animal's care--last year a friend of mine rescued a cat and had her treated for some minor health problems, then I took her to Seoul to be spayed before transferring her to a foster home. She was fairly healthy when I got her, but she needed blood tests before the operation to be sure she was fit for surgery. Then she had to be hospitalized afterwards because she was too stressed to eat (which meant she couldn't take oral antibiotics to prevent infection). The vet also recommended antibody tests, tests for fatal diseases such as feline AIDS, and a lot of shots. I must have spent close to 300,000 won altogether, and the adoption fee will be nowhere near that amount (and won't go to me in any case). ARK is a volunteer-run organization, but shelters do have to hire staff and I don't have a problem with them using adoption fees to recover part of those expenses.

[CutebutPsycho]

[curiousaboutkorea]