Korean Job Discussion Forums

[geosdsd]

I'm hoping to bring my pet cat from the States when I move to Korea. Does anyone else have experience in this? I'm pretty sure that I'd have to pay for my cat's airfare, but will it become a problem with the Hagwon/school I'm employed at since they'll be paying for my housing?

[ktkates87]

I brought my dog with me from Canada. You should be able to search through past threads on this topic on here. For my dog, all I needed was to get a certificate saying he was healthy and had been vaccinated for rabies no less than 30 days before departure. It was pretty simple, and then you just notify the airline you're flying with and reserve the cat space either in cargo or in the cabin. Make sure the hogwan knows that you're bringing your cat with you. We had our recruiter reassure us about 3 times that he had okay'd it with our school when he in fact had not. The school ended up being fine, but I could see it going the other way for sure so make sure you can talk to your school directly!

[geosdsd]

I was wondering if it was common for people to bring their pets with them. And I'll definitely search previous posts for more info. Thanks.

[ttompatz]

[geosdsd]

She is a house cat and I've never let her outdoors since my apartment is very closely situated to the freeway. I'm a college student so there are nights when I stay over at friends and what not, but I do have two other roommates that she's very close with so she doesn't get lonely.

Believe me I have thought about whether this is the best decision for her, but if I don't take her with me she'll be basically homeless. I've already pitched the idea of adoption to my other roommates, but they said they like her but don't want the added responsibility. Not to mention that I'd be really sad to part with her..

I do want to spend some vacation time traveling, but considering that Korea has become a lot pet-friendlier in the last decade, I'm sure I'll find some kind of temporary housing for her.

[lorenchristopher]

^
Plenty of people are willing to pet-sit for you! There are Korean websites where people pet-sit for each other....it is pretty legit as you can meet the people first and it's kind of a mutual thing (I take care of your pet while you're gone, you take care of mine). There are "pet clubs" all over Korea...you don't have to stay in a bubble only relying on other foreigners who will also likely be away on vacation the same time as you.

There are also pet hotels in Seoul and other areas in Korea (this is what I'm gonna do with my dog while I'm away for 10 days over Christmas). For example the one my Min Pin will be staying at while I'm gone-- it's just outside of Seoul...they have a full schedule from like 9am-9pm of things for him to do. They have lots of outdoor and indoor fenced play areas, they take him for a walk 3x's a day. It's 15,000 won per day, and that's one of the more expensive ones, but at least I know he will be in good care and not have to worry about him.

As for bringing your cat over, I have no advice whatsoever about how to go about doing that. BUT if you'd like any info on the stuff I mentioned above PM me.

[ktkates87]

Dont get too overwhelmed by all the nay-sayers. My husband and I work pretty long hours, but still manage to get out lots and plan vacations. We have a dog that is probably more needy than your cat, too. There are a few dog hotels/kennels/kindergartens and a bunch of petsitting groups and such that have started up that you can use as well. Lots of people talk about it being this huge inconvenience but that hasn't been our experience at all. All our neighbours love him (about 95 percent want to pet him and make cutesy noises at him) and we havent had as many problems as we thought we would. We also live about an hour out of seoul and still find a way to get into the city on the weekends and party it up. We havent found the experience that limiting, and we have met PLENTY of other pet owners all over the place (foreigners and koreans) so it's not that unusual. Not really sure what the deal is with Koreans as cats, seeing as we dont see into that many korean homes but I dont think you'll find it to limit your freedom or anything.

[geosdsd]

Thanks for the great feedback. The pet hotels sound like a real sweet establishment. My cat probably won't want to leave once she experiences that kind of life. Hahaha.

[ttompatz]

[geosdsd]