Korea Life: Adopting a Cat in Korea

Before I moved to Seoul, I was constantly watching all these posts about cats that needed to be adopted. I wanted one so bad, but I knew that I would be making a move soon. I kept telling myself to wait and wait. After I moved to Seoul, I knew I would be here for awhile. I decided it was time to add an extra member to my one member family. I had a cat in mind, I wanted a middle aged cat, preferably black (I wear all black and the hair wouldn't be as noticeable).

There are some cat rescues in Seoul. I researched all the places to adopt a cat from in Korea. Google is your best friend here and there are lots of helpful websites about adopting. I decided I couldn't handle the rescue houses. How do you pick out just one cat from all the cute cat's that need homes??? For me, this wasn't an option. I would be weighed down by guilt. I was kind of hoping a needy cat would just fall into my lap one day. 

This didn't happen. So, I found this site (rescuekorea.org) where you can find cats that are in need of homes and can directly email the current foster parents. I stalked the website daily for a few weeks, unable to make a decision. Then one day I saw the cutest cat. He was nothing like what I had wanted. He was only a year old (I was honestly thoroughly against a kitten before this). He was ginger and white in color with the cutest pink nose. I tried to talk myself out of it because I had really wanted to take on an older cat.... but I loved him just from his picture.

The process was easy. I emailed the foster mom, whose email was provided at the bottom. The foster mom was the nicest person and she was really helpful. She answered all my questions and let me come and meet the cat before I decided to adopt him. So, one weekend I went to her house to meet the cat with my friend. This poor kitty was too scared to even come near me or my friend. He hid in the bedroom the whole time. You would think this would turn me off from adopting him, but it was the opposite. This made me want to take him home even more, so that I could love him and keep him safe. 

The next weekend, I spent the whole day shopping and preparing the pick up my new kitty. The next day, with everything ready for him, I went and picked him up. He was thoroughly scared and it didn't help that we had a 30 minute or so subway ride with him in a carrier. When we finally got back to my place, he refused to come out of the carrier, but this was expected. However, unexpectedly, that night he climbed into bed with me. He made himself comfortable pretty quickly and now owns my apartment (and my heart). 

My experience adopting a cat in Korea has been pretty easy and pain free. This is due to a great foster mom who was easy to talk to and really nice. There are lots of cats out there for adoption and even though the rescues are sad, this is still a much better option than a pet store. There are so many pet stores here that only cater to kittens and puppies. It is a really sad because when they get too old, either they become breeders or go to a shelter. So, putting any money into these businesses is something I am thoroughly against. I could go on forever on that topic. The rescue homes have a much more complicated process than what I went through but it is understandable. There are people out there that adopt for the year they live here and then decide they don't want to take the cat/dog back home with them. Which is another topic I could also kick off on. Anyways, if you are looking for any sort of animal, please go the adoption route and know that it may be the more tedious route, but so much more rewarding. 

In conclusion this is my new cat 부끄 and I am obsessed with him. I highly recommend adopting if you have the time, money, and maturity for adding a pet to your household.