Living in Korea has been slightly torturous just because they do not treat animals well at all, and there are many stray cats and dogs which are abused or just scorned, or even captured and eaten. Many Koreans have ridiculous superstitions that cats are evil, spread disease, steal things (their word for stray cat basically translates to thief cat), and purposefully create mischief for humans. So of course this angers and upsets me so much.
Anyway, Warren and I became attached to one stray cat in particular over a month ago. She lived in the parking garage, and we noticed that unlike the others, she would approach us, and let us touch her a little. We began feeding her, and we soon realized she was pregnant, so we were feeding her on a regular basis. We noticed that others were feeding her as well, which made us feel a little better, but one day we saw crackers in her food bowl, and that's when we started thinking we have to do something.
So me being me, I can't leave anything alone. I began extensively researching animal shelters in Korea, of which there are so few, and I contacted the one I thought looked best, run by many foreigners in central Korea. They were very kind, and suggested that if we wanted to foster the momma cat and the kittens for a few months, they would come take them and find them homes. That sealed the deal for me. That very afternoon, we abducted Aona from her dark, greasy, stinky home, and brought her up the apartment. At this point she is ready to burst with the babes.
So after an upsetting hour she began to settle down a little and even ventured out from under our kitchen table a few times. A few hours later, she is eating and actually walking around our living room, exploring the space. Then she jumped into Warren's lap. As we start exclaiming how cute she is, suddenly Warren says"oh no, she's peeing" and he leaps up as she goes running under the bed. But there is way too much liquid to be pee. Aona's water broke in Warren's lap. She starts panting and returns to her place under the table. We start freaking out, realizing she must be going into labor already. We prepare for a long night keeping watch.
Unfortunately, like most situations with us, the birth does not go smoothly. In fact it doesn't go at all. For several hours, into the early morning, I stayed up and monitored the cat, petting her and trying to sooth her. I could feel the kittens squirming under her skinny frame. After a long time, I started panicking. I called my vet in New York (it was mid-afternoon for them) and asked what I should do. They told me if nothing happened in another couple hours she would need to go to an animal hospital. I started looking for vets that might speak English online. This produced only a few numbers, and when I called there was no answer.
Finally it was 6:30 am and time to start getting ready for work. The cat at this point was inactive, she had stopped signs of labor a few hours earlier and she just lay under the table without moving. I have been crying on and off all night, and on top of this I am sick. So I make the decision to stay home from school and try to get the cat to a vet.
Out of the blue a hospital calls me back. The vet can speak decent English, and when I described the situation he told me to bring her in. This presented another problem-no cage. I took a taxi to a store, was so relieved it was open, and bought a carrier that seemed meant for a rabbit. (they just don't like cats in Korea). I returned home, shoved the helpless cat in the cage and was out the door again.
After a frustrating amount of time waiting for and then explaining directions to a taxi, we were on our way. I was convinced that Aona was about to die any minute. When we arrived at the vet, he took her out, felt her belly a little, and said, the babies' heartbeats were very low. He said she could not give birth naturally, and needed surgery. I was dreading this, and I asked how much it would cost. He said, "its very expensive." and I started bawling. The old man was pretty taken aback-I don't know what was worse for him, an American girl crying in his office, or the fact that it was over a stay cat. So then he told me it was 200,000 won, which is about $200. Expensive, but not what I was imagining. I asked if she would live without the surgery and he said no, first the babies would die inside her and then she would die a painful death. And then I said do it.
I left the vet feeling much better. She was in better hands than mine. When he called me a few hours later, he had very good news. She lived, as well as 5 kittens! She had 7 actually, but 2 were stillborn. Probably the reason she could not give birth.
I went to pick her up, and her little mice-like newborns. Another taxi ride later and we were home, and Aona was in her suitcase bed with 5 tiny creatures nursing happily.
So that was over 2 weeks ago. For one week after her surgery we had to drag momma cat back to vet to get shots, which was hell. We betrayed her trust over and over again, and probably annoyed a lot of taxi drivers and people on the subway, as well as spent even more of our precious dollars. But in the end it is worth it for us. We saved 6 lives, and now they give us so much joy. We have to resist the urge to spend every waking minute with our heads in the suitcase, and babies in our hands.
They have just passed the stage where all they do is eat and sleep. Now their eyes are open and they can hear, and they spend a little time every day playing with each other (rolling around on their backs and looking painfully adorable) and they also look at us and touch our faces with their noses and try to catch my hair. I am in love times 6.
Aona has been pretty good. She always uses the litter box, she does not yowl, and she is very attentive to the kids. She does do some weird things. She is always poking in small spaces, and several times we have caught her trying to relocate the kittens under the desk amongst all the computer wires. She likes affection and enjoys being pet, but she doesn't quite understand how to approach us for it, although I think its getting a little better. I think she is pretty young herself, no more than 2. I discovered today her begging skills are not lost, and are actually pretty intense, which is a little annoying, but also a little endearing. The poor little homeless one. All in all she is a sweetheart who deserves a good home. I know in a few months I will be really really sad to give them away, but I also know its for the best, and they are better off in a shelter than dead, at least this shelter, which I think is pretty good.
The kittens are finally all named- Soju (a Korean rice alcohol, like vodka, which is a little too popular here) because he/she was the first to start exploring and taking his/her first drunken wobbly footsteps. Mandu (Korean for dumpling) because he is noticeably fatter than his siblings. Little Archness is the runt, named for the ridiculously incorrect English we experience and enjoy every day. And Scrap and Urchin are named for the lives they narrowly escaped, I hope.
So that is the epic tale of our new pets. I don't even care if you are sick and tired of this story. I am very proud.
Many more photos of Aona and her brood can be seen at our photobucket site:www.photobucket.com/jazzpilot
REMEMBER! The password is: warren
its a secret!
Bye!
