We're diving into the world of pets today, folks! Whether you're thinking of bringing your furry friends to Georgia or considering adopting a brand new buddy, we've got the scoop on how to make it happen. We'll chat about the ins and outs of pet travel, from required vaccinations to those all-important certificates. Plus, if you're on the hunt for a new pet, we've got recommendations for adoption groups and tips on how to help the local stray populations. So, grab your coffee or maybe a glass of wine, and let’s get into the paws-itively fun world of pets in Georgia!

In this episode, Meg and Tom talk about taking care of your furry little friends in Tbilisi.

They discuss:

• Bringing your pets to Georgia - what to know and do before you leave home
• Adopting a dog in Georgia
• Recommended Vets In Tbilisi
• and more.....

Show Notes:

• Expathub Full Article: https://expathub.ge/pets-in-georgia-country/
• DOG - Dog Organization Georgia
• The Georgian Society for the Protection and Safety of Animals
• Tbilisi Animal and Pet Rescue - Facebook Group

Bringing our furry friends to Georgia or finding new ones can be a bit of a wild ride, but fear not! We're diving into the ins and outs of pet ownership in this beautiful country. From the essentials of transporting your beloved dog or cat to understanding what it takes to adopt a pet here, we've got you covered. I mean, who would want to leave their best buddy behind? Not us! We’re chatting about the nitty-gritty details like health certificates, vaccinations, and microchips, because let’s be real, no one wants to deal with the airport drama when you just want to cuddle your pup after a long flight. And if you're considering adopting, we also explore the local organizations that can help you find the perfect companion, whether they're furry, feathery, or even a hedgehog! (Yes, you heard right, folks!) So grab a glass of wine, settle in, and learn how to navigate the pet scene in Tbilisi without losing your mind or your pet in the process!

Takeaways:

• Moving to Georgia with pets? You gotta keep them healthy and vaccinated!
• Adopting a pet in Tbilisi? Check out local organizations and their requirements first.
• Be careful about picking up street animals; they might have homes or parents nearby.
• Finding a vet in Georgia can be tricky, but expat groups can help with recommendations.
• Want to help strays? Look into the Stray Animals Project for cool volunteer opportunities.
• Always get your adopted pet microchipped, it's the law and super important for their safety!

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• foodfuntravel.com
• expathub.ge
• eatthis tours dot com
• Dog Dog Organization Georgia
• Tbilisi Animal and Pet Rescue Facebook group
• Tamaz Eilish Barashvili dog shelter
• Georgian Society for the Protection and Safety of Animals
• Sit Happens
• Milo Pet Hotel
• Aibo Clinic
• Vetex Clinic
• Balto Clinic
• Zoomart Pet Store
• Pet Storjio

gamarjoba

This is the Tbilisi Podcast, covering life, travel and more in the country of Georgia, brought to you by foodfuntravel.com, expathub.ge and eat this tours dot com.

In this episode, we're talking about pets. Either bringing your pets here or maybe even adopting a pet once you get here.

All right. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to another episode of the Tbilisi Podcast, a show about life and travel in Tbilisi and Georgia. I am your host, Meg.

I run a website called foodfuntravel.com where I talk about food, fun travel and dot coms.

You talk about dot coms on your website?

I do not.

Oh, it's a shame.

It just seemed like the natural progression of that.

You'd think.

I don't know. I'm a few wines in right now. So let's see where this podcast goes. Who are you?

This is Tom here. I'm back doing another podcast. I keep turning up on these things. Maybe it's because I'm one of the hosts.

Maybe. Maybe.

I guess that's probably the reason I keep getting invited. I'm also the one doing the recording part that is helpful for me, otherwise.

I just sit here drinking wine. Where you actually hit the recording button and do the twisty knob stuff, set.

Up the microphones and all that sort of thing.

Yeah.

Otherwise this would literally be recorded on your phone whilst you're walking around shopping or something.

I mean, that could be just as entertaining.

Oh, it could be. Yeah. I guess people do do that, but the audio quality would probably be a little bit more confusing and frustrating.

Time. We'll do like a test. I'll do like a TikTok or.

Or one of those modern young people of me walking around just talking on the TikTok versus the podcast and see which people like more.

Yeah, all right. Sure. Sure thing. Just random thoughts from Meg whilst walking around, just, you know, getting distracted by things. Oh. Oh, that's a pretty dress.

That sort of stuff. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're like at the shops.

Yeah, yeah, it's pretty much that.

Can't actually get to the shop we want to get to because you have to keep going and looking at things.

Yeah. I wonder if I can get like that American style sliced bread today. Oh, no, no.

Dress, dress.

Found a dress.

Came back with a dress. Didn't get any bread.

Whoops.

Totally forgot the bread.

Oh, I got my nails done, too. How did that happen? Well, just fell into a seat, got it done.

Yep. Didn't get any bread, though. Still hungry. Here yeah.

So, Tom from eatthisthistours.com and expert, and I guess we're hitting a bit of an expert hub.ge type of website talk chat today.

Yes. This one isn't in my realm. This is definitely more about expats and things you need to know, being an expat or a foreigner living in Georgia.

We're talking about pets. Either bringing your pets here or maybe even adopting a pet once you get here.

We're talking about our furry little family members.

Don't even have to be furry. Could be feathery, could be sharp, like a hedgehog.

There's hedgehogs here.

Yeah, there are hedgehogs here. So you could probably adopt a hedgehog.

I don't know if you can adopt a hedgehog.

I mean, technically you can't. It's more like taking a hedgehog if you were going to grab one from the. From the garden or something.

The only reason I know that there's hedgehogs here is because I was once coming home from trivia at the tipsy be. Now, I was getting home about 3am So I will agree. Quite a few hours after trivia actually concludes at the Tipsy Bee.

But I was walking through the car park of our apartment and there was a happy little hedgehog there greeting me.

Yeah.

And that's how I know Georgia and Tibbaloosi as hedgehogs.

Yeah. And there you go.

So all manner of possible animals that you either should or should not adopt because they're wild and they might like living where they're living and you shouldn't be necessarily telling them where they should live. But who knows?

I guess we should start with actually bringing your own pets here, because a lot of people who move here are like, well, I'm not coming without my dog or my cat.

Of course not. Of course not. So we're going to assume that most of these are dogs or cats.

And there is, of course, this is actually one of the most frequent questions that I see on a lot of the Facebook groups and whatnot. People are asking about what they need to do to get their pets into the country.

So there's a few things that you need to follow before you depart your home country. So the animal must be healthy. Now, there's a difference of being healthy as, like, yeah, going to the dog gym.

Going to the dog gym, being quite buff, you just hold a sausage in front of them on a treadmill and away they go. Yeah. No, this has to actually be confirmed by an authorized vet or by a government body. That controls the export or import of pets.

So they need a special certificate that should be signed and have a very special stamp on it as well. So, yeah, as I said, specific people, you can't just take it to your regular old vet. They have to be authorised to.

Actually, I just get Dave down the pub to say that. Yeah.

Does Dave have a stamp? No.

I mean he might have his own rubber stamp. It just might not be very official.

Number two, they need to have preventative vaccination. Diagnostic research and relevant processing must be undergone. So let's explain this a little bit further.

So according to the ordinance that they have declared as the all being power.

Of the official bit of government legislation, yes.

This means that pets should be vaccinated against rabies. A rabies antibody titration test needs to be performed and the pet needs to be treated with a broad spectrum anthelmintic. That's a.

It's a really big word for me to say. But basically they need to have treatment of their. Against parasitic flatworms and stuff like that. That's what that big word means.

So they need a nice big strong mint. Because when you have a really strong mint it does kill off some horrible bacteria, doesn't it?

And they also need to be treated against exo and endoparasites. So we're looking at tapeworm, all of that sort of yucky stuff that can be living in their bellies.

They need to make sure that they don't have any of that sort of stuff. A pet must be accompanied by veterinary certificate or a pet passport. So for dogs and cats this must include the following basic information.

So they need to have data about the animal for its identification, such as type of pet, breed, date of birth, sex and color. They need to have identifying information about the pet owner, such as breed, date of birth, sex and colour. I'm joking.

What breed are you? Australian? Redhead.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I don't know what identifying information about the pet owner.

They need to know have name it first and last name, I don't know, certificate, passport number. So that's of the pet. They need to have their. Their pet passport data about veterinary measures the pet has undergone.

So this includes dates of procedures that they have had, such as rabies vaccinations, treatments against the tapeworm, all of that sort of stuff. Dates and the procedures all need to be listed.

The name, title and contact information of the authorized vet or relevant government authority, along with the signature and official ST from them. The number of the microchip and its location on the pet's body.

Because we didn't mention that. That is one of the other requirements. They must be chipped.

They must be chipped. And other information related to the pet's health. So that all needs to be in there.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, they're closely following the EU rules on this stuff here, which makes sense. Yes, yes, very close.

So that's basically information you need. You can find detailed information at the official ordinance.

There is a link that I can give you for that, but it is all in Georgian, so unless you have become fluent in Georgian before moving here, it's not going to be very useful.

I wonder how many people have become fluent in Georgian before moving to Georgia? I don't know.

How many people living here that are.

Fluent in Georgia, apart from Georgians? A few of them.

Except for the Georgians. Yeah.

There's quite a few Georgians living here.

Foreigners. I've never met a foreigner living here that says they're fluent in Georgian.

I've met a few who are sort of close enough to fluent.

No, I think we say they're very good, but they would never say that they're fluent or good enough in Georgia.

Because it is an incredibly hard language.

Yeah, yeah. There is also a lot of information that you can find on the Revenue Service website that is actually in English, but it's a summary.

So they haven't put everything there. It's a bit of a tricky one sometimes. So. Yeah.

But basically you can also contact the Revenue Service and ask them information if there are any additional questions that you. You might have.

Exactly. So they're very, very recent.

Brand new as well, which is another reason why the translation isn't there.

I think the microchip is the brand new one. Like, that's something that's, like, hardcore. Like, they must now must be microchipped to enter Georgia. That sort of stuff is now official.

You've got to have that sort of stuff.

Also, it is really important to be aware that besides the legal requirements from Georgia's side, it's sort of like, you know, when you're getting on a plane during days of COVID like, or even like. I mean, it's still days of COVID You need to pay attention to the Airline and what their requirements are.

Exactly.

Yeah. So you need to check every single step of the way.

You need to check with your home country and what your pets need to have before they're allowed to leave. You need to check with Georgia and what's required for them to enter.

And then you need to check with the airline that you're flying with to see what their requirements are as well. Check. Check every single box. And then you should have no problems with traveling with your pet.

Fingers are very much crossed. But lots of people have done it.

Lots of people do it. And, I mean, it sounds quite daunting and like a lot of things, but it's actually just a few basic steps.

You've got to go to the right authority people and, you know, get the right stamps and stuff like that. But it's not too difficult to bring your pets here.

If you don't actually own a pet and you are currently living in Georgia and you'd like to adopt a pet, there are lots of options to do that as well.

I'm available.

Oh, really?

No.

What are you gonna do? Just gonna go around to people's houses for pats and free food?

I would love to go around to people's houses for free food, and I can just sit there in a nice warm space and relax.

What if they only feed you raw food?

I mean, as long as it's not raw vegan food. If it's raw meat, I'll take that.

Are you just gonna have, like, some.

Some steak tartar? I mean, if I'm going around to someone's house and they're serving me ceviche and steak tartare as their pet, I'd be like, that is a good owner.

I'll do it.

All right. But if you are wanting to adopt a lovable Tom's not really furry enough, so he doesn't qualify.

No, no, not that sort of adoption.

There are a few really good organizations that you can get in contact with.

I will say one of the main things that is a bit of an issue here in Georgia is that people come here as tourists, and there is a large stray dog and cat population here. Some of them are better taken care of than others.

But in general, a lot of the stray population is quite well taken care of from the general public and stuff like that. There's. There's definitely a lot of issues and a lot of better things that can be done.

But one of the things I think is a really big issue is foreigners coming here and whisking animals up off the street.

Without knowing, especially like kittens and puppies, whether not knowing whether or not they have adult parents, like coming back to take care of them or. Or that.

As in their animal parents.

Yeah, their animal parents.

As opposed to. Yeah, other owners. I mean, they might also have other.

Owners, but basically a lot of people come here and they. They pick these animals up off the street and of them for a couple of weeks and then go, oh, well, I'm leaving now. What do I do?

Like, can someone take this pet? And we're like, well, no. Like they were probably going to be taken care of in.

By one of the organizations or there's a process to this and so many people come here and I know you think that you're doing the right thing and if the animal is in absolute dire need of help, yes, pick them up and help them.

But I think it's just better to contact one of these organizations first because they just have more information about what's going on with different animals in different areas. And you can't just be like, stealing these babies away from their parents when people pick them up and they're like, oh, the cat.

There was no cat mum there. And how do I feed this cat? Because they need, you know, to be taken care of.

The assumption is there that the cats were abandoned, but cats have to go and hunt for their food and they will still, they will most of the time, come back.

And I mean, a lot of the dogs, for example, though, it's even easier to tell because they've mostly been tagged.

Well, not the little puppies, though.

No, I mean the little puppies, the new puppies might not have been tagged, but, yeah, the older dogs, there's a lot of tagging here, so you are actually going to see that. Yes, that dog's already been catalogued and they're aware of that dog being there because it's got a yellow tag in its ear.

Yeah.

And so, I mean, that's something to look out for, to make sure you.

Can see if they've been tagged, because that means they are in the system and they are aware of them.

But, yeah, rather than taking them in and then trying to offload them to someone else, because you don't have to have a stable link to Georgia, maybe contact one of these companies first before doing that. I know you think, like, you're doing the right thing and sure, feed them, but, like, taking them in and I.

Don'T know, we get what you're saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't have to.

I don't Want to seem heartless. But you know, some of these animals need to learn to live on the streets. Yes, we do want to home them.

All, but I mean, although some of them are definitely really struggling, a lot of them are not. That's one of the crazy things.

So many of them, they're just getting fed by either the community or they're getting fed by tourists in restaurants or whatever.

Like any of them that are in any sort of tourist area for a start, are almost certainly getting so much food and scraps that half the time they don't even want to beg for food anymore.

They're just sitting around just making them reliant on just you, I think is unfair if you are leaving and you know that you're leaving.

Yeah, that's fair.

So if you are legit looking to adopt a pet in Georgia or if you do find an animal that needs help, you can contact these organizations. One of the big ones is Dog Dog Organization Georgia. They offer adoption, fostering and sponsoring for dogs.

Obviously they don't charge any adoption fees.

So I do know like a lot of places, like in Australia, for example, you'll try and adopt a pet and it's like a couple of hundred dollars to adopt a stray because they're like, well, I had to feed it and I vaccinated. Yeah, I mean neutered it. I mean you can.

Of course it's expensive to run these places in some countries here maybe it's a little bit cheaper.

Yeah. So here they've undergone examination, vaccinations, everything before being put up for adoption. I don't know if they neuter them.

That might be up to you to do.

But they also get quite a lot of donations to these places. I think that's why one of the other reasons why they can sort of afford to, to give them away.

They're a really popular.

They're very popular. And yeah, a lot of people donate. I mean, we've ran, we've run events for them before to donate as well.

Also, if you're looking just if you are missing time with pets, they do walks on weekends where you can go out and you can take the doggies for walks around the countryside. That's a really good thing.

So if you can't adopt or even foster for a little bit of time, you can go out and take them for walkies on weekends, which is lots of fun.

It's really good fun.

Another great resource for those looking is the Tbilisi Animal and Pet Rescue Facebook group. They've got about 6,000 plus members. It's an English only group for people interested in animal rescue, fostering and adoption.

So in this group you'll find frequent posts asking for people to re home cats, dogs, along with pictures, descriptions. It's also a really helpful place to ask for pet related recommendations and stuff.

So if you're looking for certain medications or you're looking for different treatments or stuff like, like that for your pets that you currently own, it's actually, it's just a really good network of people with pets, people trying to find people to adopt other animals. That sort of stuff. You can buy purebred, there's a lot of purebreds and stuff that are available here that you can purchase.

But really like adopt, adopt, adopt, you don't need a purebred pet.

This is the same everywhere. I mean this is, this is a message that everybody knows. If you can adopt, then adopt.

There is also the Tamaz Eilish Barashvili dog shelter. That's another really good option for adopting a dog in Georgia. You will find that a lot of the options are more dog related.

I guess the feeling here is that cats are a little bit more self.

Yeah, cats are self reliant, they live on the streets, they get food.

So yeah, I mean there are a lot of cats that I've seen around that do look very, very unhappy and you know, they're malnourished and whatever and that's really sad to see. But there's also, as we said before, there's loads of cats just hanging out on the street that are doing just great.

Yeah.

So yeah, so yeah, that Timaz Iliz Barashvili dog shelter also does have a Facebook group, but it is mostly in Georgian but their main website does offer an English translation.

So that's another shelter that doesn't charge any adoption fees and all their dogs have undergone examinations, vaccinations before being put up for adoption as well. You can also go to the gspsa, the Georgian Society for the Protection and Safety of Animals.

They offer pet adoptions in addition to advocating for legislation that improves animal welfare in Georgia.

So that's a really good one to have like follow them as well because if you see animals that are in need or if there's any ways that you can see that things can be improved, maybe get in contact with them and we can work on some having better legislation to improve the welfare and lives of these pets. Once you have adopted a pet, do make sure you get them microchipped as it is now required by law.

As we mentioned before, as of 1-1-20, 23, they all need to be microchipped. And we do often see in a lot of these Facebook groups that I mentioned, people are looking for their pets that they've lost.

People are like, so having them microchipped, then that's the first thing people ask. They're like, is it microchipped if we find it, like, you know, can it be traced back to you? Because if you haven't done that, well, now it's law.

You really need to have that done.

All right, so that's bringing pets, that's adopting pets. And now let's say you've got your pet here, I guess, or you've adopted.

A lovely little bundle of fur, you.

Have a pet here of some sort. However, you got them here and now what's next? I guess you need to have them looked after.

Exactly. So where can you find a good veterinarian?

Just like anything in Georgia, these vary between, you know, levels of quality of care and levels of, I guess if you're looking for one that specifically speaks English, then you're going to have to search a little bit and we're going to help you with the English speaking one. There is also, we've still got Facebook groups for this one as well, such as expats with pets in Georgia.

Look up this Facebook group and you can also throw out your questions in that group if you want to ask for specific recommendations. Sometimes people, if your pet, pet has a particular ailment that you know about, you might want to have a vet that has a specification in that field.

So you want to ask about vets that are good with blah, blah, blah. So this is a really good Facebook group to jump in there and ask about that sort of stuff.

Some other top rated expat reviewed clinics are Aibo Clinic. Aibo, they offer a wide variety of specialized treatments. They're all European standard medical care for their animals.

And you can see there's an English version of their website, so you can really clearly see everything that they offer and see if it's for you. And they also have some English speaking staff as well.

Just, just makes it so much easier so that you understand what's going on, what they're being prescribed, what they're doing, all of that sort of stuff.

Yeah. And then there's also Vetex Clinic, which is also really popular in Georgia. They offer a specialized animal medicine as well.

And they also look after birds. So I know we're talking only about cats.

Lots of dogs. And cats. Yeah, and dogs.

But you know, people like birds, various Vets are going to look after different types of animals, of course. But yeah, that's one. If you're looking after birds here, that's one.

You're going to look at the Vetx clinic and they have some English speaking stuff. I mean, we're only talking about ones that do have English speaking stuff because otherwise it's a bit tricky.

Also, if you need 24 hour assistance, head to check out the Balto Clinic. Give them a call. They are available for emergency.

So B A L T O clinic, we'll have the links to all of this and there is also an article on the Expat Hub website as well. It is expathub.ge/pets in Georgia. So I'll put links to all of this in the show notes or just.

Type it into Google because we'll be the top hit if you put that in Pets in Georgia Expert Hub.

Exactly. So yeah, for 24 hour service, head, head to the Balto Clinic and they can help you out. All right.

So another question that people ask a lot about is finding a trustworthy pet boarding service. You want to go away on vacation, you want to go away for a little bit.

You don't have any friends that are available to help you out for the entire time that you're going away. How do you find someone to take of your pet that is going to take good care of them?

I love the name of the first one of these options that we have.

Yes, Sit Happens.

Sit Happens. Sit Happens people. And it will. And they'll look after your dog.

Yep. Now clean up all this sitting.

All of that sitting. Yes.

Will be taken care of, will be cleaned. So yeah, this is an expat run organization that offers dog walking, boarding and training services. Please train your dogs as well.

Oh yeah. I mean, look, let's be honest, that is a bit annoying.

I know there's a lot of street dogs, of course, but even owners here literally will have their dogs poop on the street and then walk off.

Yeah. Pick up after you.

Not impressed by that. Like with the street dogs. I get it, of course. What are we going to do about it?

But yeah, if you are a pet owner and you're not cleaning it up, shame on you.

Shame. But Sit Happens actually has some really great reviews by pet owners in Tbilisi. So that's definitely one to check out.

Out Milo Pet Hotel offers doggy daycare. So if you just need a couple of hours while you go to work or something like that.

Dog boarding, they do grooming, other dog services which includes a pet taxi service. So that's a bit of a tricky one getting around. Bolt does have a pet section.

Like you can find a taxi specifically that will allow pets, but it tends to be very difficult to actually find someone.

There's a long wait time. You might be waiting 15, 20 minutes minimum to get a taxi. Taxi.

So, yeah, if you've got your dog with you, then book the taxi way in advance and you should be good.

Yeah. So these guys offer a pet taxi service, so that's really, really, really good to know. So, yeah, they have a doggy daycare, full day, half day.

They also have a pet relocation service.

So if you're not wanting to take care of all of that stuff we discussed at the beginning of the episode, and you want someone to just help you through the entire process to make sure you get it right, these guys can help you out with that as well for a fee. So contact them. They're the Milo Pet Hotel. Also one of the things that you can use their boarding services.

But we used to travel around using trusted house sitters. We actually were pet sitters. People would go on vacation and we would come and stay in the home and take care of people's pets.

So long ago, so long ago.

But it was really great because traveling full time, we used to miss spending time with animals and, and pets. So it was really nice to, you know, stay in a home rather than a hotel and have that sort of homely pet, you know, surrounding you.

So trusted house sitters is another thing that you can use that.

And there's other house sitting websites as well. Lots of options to get onto that.

For people that are. Yeah, you can.

And on there you can see people's reviews, you can see videos and, and get a bit of an idea of what people are like, are the people that are. Because they're actually going to come into your home and stay in your home and take care of your pet pets. All right.

So if anybody else does have any recommendations for some good boarding services or anything like that, please do let us know. You can email me@megsyoodfuntravel.com or you can contact us on social media at Tbilisi Podcast.

Just shoot me a message if there's any other services that you particularly think are fantastic for pets.

And we will definitely, you know, give them a shout out on our Facebook page or add them into the show notes on this episode or add them into the article on Expat Hub. Another question people ask is, where can I find specialty products for my pet in Georgia?

This is a pretty Important one, because people do have pets with special needs, special dietary requirements. We have some friends that actually adopted a couple of pets off the street and literally they just like, actually, I think Morty adopted them.

Yeah, he just followed them home and that was pretty much it moved in.

Yasmina, their other cat, was like, really not in a good way. And most people had just pretty much assumed that she was not going to.

To last very long at all, but they've actually switched her over to this raw food diet and there's a specialty company that does raw food for pets and she's like a brand new cat. It's like she's just completely turned around. A lot of her health problems have disappeared and she's doing absolutely spectacular right now. So.

So yeah, there are pets that have special needs and you might be looking for, you know, a specific shelter shop that carries what you need. So once again, expat groups are really, really good for this.

Jump on Facebook and go to Expats with Pets in Georgia again and you'll probably find someone that can help you, direct you in the right direction for what it is that you need for your pet at that time. Zoomart Pet Store. Geo. Aibo. Aibo. I hope I'm pronouncing that right.

I think so.

Yeah.

There's quite a few. Like, it is not hard to find pet stores here, actually.

It's a good one, actually. You see everywhere. Yeah, it's in a lot of locations.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you're living in the city and not living outside, way, way outside. There are pet stores pretty much on every main street.

We're always walking past them wherever we go.

And there you're getting food. You're getting, yeah. Specialty food, regular food. You're getting accessories.

The good cat litter, the fancy cat litter that stops all the stench. Yeah, that's the one you want.

You've got to have good cat litter. You can also get pet costumes.

I've seen a couple of, of like, if you go to the markets, there's a couple of stores that'll be selling little, little, little pet costumes. And they're very cute.

Wow.

If your pet can tolerate it, that that's what we've bred them down to be. From wild hunters to our wearing a pretty little tutu. Also grooming products and all that sort of stuff as well.

Yeah, these Zoom Art and then Pet Storjio are all really good. And some of these are actually available on your delivery app.

So if you're on Walt or Glover or anything like that, you can jump on there and you can just get some stuff actually just delivered straight to your. If you're lazy like I am. Yeah.

What are you gonna do, you know, when they make it so easy for you? I don't really know how you can say no to delivery, really.

I know, it's so easy.

Why even leave the house? Yeah, I think Covid sort of ruined all of us in that sense.

Or at least here going out.

Pre Covid, I used to actively try and go out to buy things myself because I was like, well, you know, when you go there yourself, you can choose between the various options and you know what you're doing and you know what you're getting and. And then when it turns up and for a delivery that turns up and half the time you're like, oh no, that's like the tiny version of what I wanted.

Or that's completely the wrong one.

Lines instead of blind.

Yeah, the picture showed it like this and it's not like this. And that's really annoying. But ah, well, you know, I didn't have to leave my apartment, so that's great. I'll just put up with it. So I don't know.

I think I want to try and get back more into going out and getting stuff. But then there's also time consuming. So you know, delivery is just so easy.

Yeah, we really need to get. Just jump on the metro and go to Station Square and go shopping at the deserted bazaar. So much more.

This is crazy. I mean, like, people probably think we're mad for even saying this because, you know, why would you go to the bazaar when you go to the supermarket?

But all of the stuff at the bazaar is the freshest stuff that comes in from the countryside. I mean, well, we've got two options really. You've got.

Some of the small vendors are actually getting stuff from their families, so that's actually more organically grown like at their, their farmsteads or whatever. But that's only some of them. A lot of the other ones, they literally just go to the deserter bazaar.

Yeah.

And then they buy up a whole load of stuff and then they sell it over the course of a week. But if you go to the deserted bazaar yourself, then most of the time it's stuff that came in that day and it really is the freshest stuff.

I'm trying to think, is there a pet section of the dessert of bazaar?

There might be.

Probably is.

It's so, so big. I haven't even explored all of it yet.

I mean there would be at Lilo, but I'm not going all the way to Lil.

Lilo Market, for those who don't live here, is probably. It's the biggest market in Georgia pretty much. It's a massive sprawl, but it is so far out past the airport and like, way, way, way out of town.

So anyone living in sort of Vacay Sabatale, where most expats live, it's just too far. But Deserter Bazaar is central. That's very accessible, and that is where all the best fresh produce is coming in.

Let me know anyone who's listening, if there is a pet section there. There's got to be. I think there's got to be.

Could be, could be. But either way, just, you know, go there and experience the insanity because it, it's a little crazy.

Everything's all over the place and it's a bit busy. And if you don't speak any Georgian, you can struggle a bit to, to find what you need.

That's why you're gonna get fresh.

Yeah, yeah, It's a really fun adventure and yeah, you're gonna get good, fresh stuff.

We do understand that not everybody here is able to have a pet. You might not be able to adopt or, or, or do anything like that. We have a very small apartment, so we can't have currently have a pet.

Although I would love to have a cat. I miss having a cat cat so much. But there are ways that you can help out.

They do say that there's actually around about currently 50,000 homeless dogs in Tbilisi alone. There's a lot. And some of them do like, really need our help. Like others, you know, the neighborhood is really well taken care of.

Some do really need help. So if you're looking for ways that you can help some of the animals on the streets, you can contact the sapg, the Stray Animals Project in Georgia.

They help build mini homes for the street animals. You might have seen them around town. There's like these, just these little houses.

Very simply made zone little home bits. Yeah, DIY homes.

Super cute. And they actually sometimes hold community events where you can participate in making the shelters for the dogs and cats and stuff.

So that's super cool if you want to get involved in that. Also dog as well. They're really fantastic.

They connect homeless dogs in Georgia not just with people in Georgia looking to adopt, but also families in other countries that want to adopt stray dogs as well.

So if you'd like, like to help them out, of course they do accept, you know, all these places do accept donations to help them out with their efforts.

But if you are traveling anywhere, you do have any upcoming flights, check in with them because they might have some dogs that need to be delivered to their homes. And if you are going in that direction, you can go along with them and make sure that they get to their, their new home safely.

So you can contact them through their Facebook page. I think they have a website as well.

Well, so if you are traveling anywhere, just check in with them and just see if there's any dogs that need a chaperone that you can help them get to their forever home. They would really, really appreciate that. Yeah.

But basically, if you have any other pet related suggestions, if there's any other questions that you have, if there's anything that we haven't covered today, please do let us know and we can do an update episode. That's, that's pretty much just a general.

Overview of one day in the very far distant future. Because I'm sure things will change. Things are always changing.

Things are growing and developing and changing very quickly in this country, which is both exciting but also difficult to keep up with content. It is when, when there's so many changes over time. Yeah.

That, that's a general overview of having a pet in Georgia. Yeah. Help out. If you, if you can't help, have, you know, your own pet. Do help out.

Don't just whisk them up off the street because it might not be the best for them. I know I went into this, but, you know, just, just contact someone who knows what to do in the right way. Pretty please. Yeah.

So that's it. Yeah.

Yeah. Any other questions, just email us megsyoodfuntravel.com or get on our social. We are on Facebook and Instagram tibilissipodcast.

Maybe one day we'll be on the tick tock.

Maybe.

Maybe. I don't know. It could happen.

Is it a podcasting platform?

It could happen. It'll just be my random ramblings throughout the day. It'll just be Meg talking. Rambling.

Fun times. Everyone loves the random Meg rambles.

Exactly.

I had an email the other day from someone going, can you get Meg to ramble a bit more? I really love it. It's literally my favorite thing.

Do you know what your podcast needs? More tangents. Definitely more tangents.

Yeah. You have nowhere near enough tangents going on. Let's tangent it up.

All right. If you've got this far. Thank you. We really appreciate it.

God knows how you made it, but we're still here.

You're Here. We're here. We love you for yes, please do remember to leave us a review wherever you are listening. I love reading them. It makes my day.

Also, anybody that drops us a message on Instagram and tells us how, you know, you guys love listening to the show and how we've helped you out with moving to Georgia or made it feel just a little bit less daunting about, you know, traveling here, I love it. Thank you. I'm so glad that we can help out in any way. And please do keep in contact with us and let us know if there's anything else that we can do.

As we said, we're trying to be a little bit more consistent with shows. There will at least be one every two weeks.

Let's not make promises that we can't guarantee. We are trying to get stuff out, but we are super crazy busy. We're always super crazy busy.

We're pleased. Please know we are trying. Yeah, but one of the things we are trying to do is be more consistent. We can't guarantee, but we will do our absolute best.

But please do keep sending through your recommendations and reviews and everything like that because we love them. We love you. Thanks for listening.

Cheers, guys. See you later.

Thanks for listening to the Tbilisi Podcast.

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