Job Discussion Forums

[clock]

I would be willing to bet my right hand that if I put a plate of the bland vegan food you described and a plate of juicy meat oozing blood in front of your dogs the meat would be gone before you could say "anaemic vegan dogs"

Sorry to burst your bubble but you are exactly the sort of person who won't survive over here. If you expect everything to be just like in the grand ol' U S of A. where people will pay inflated prices for 'organic vegan dog kibble' and spend hundreds of dollars taking their dogs to be pampered at dog 'salons', you are going to be sadly disappointed.

You're not going to have much luck being a vegan here either. Thais love meat, everything has meat or meat products in it. Stir-fried vegetables sound safe? Just watch them put in a glob of oyster sauce. Tofu (the blandest food on the planet) is often seasoned with fish sauce. Eating is one of the highlights of life in Thailand, the food is fantastic, and you won't be able to participate in it. Quite sad, really....

[Boy Wonder]

Sounds to me Veganette like you are in the wrong business.
This is TEFL teaching not dog caring or muesli munching!!!

By all means come to Thailand but beware of the very chauvinistic and male orientated attitudes that exist here...i.e prepare to be a figure of ridicule amongst your middle aged male 'disaffected by women and new age attitude' colleagues.

Over and out.

BTW the street dogs here all love meat and good on em!!

[kenkannif]

[Veganette]

I'm not going to try to defend my lifestyle to any of you. Think what you like. Notice, though, that I did NOT get on here and start preaching at any of YOU on what YOU should eat or what your dogs should eat (except as a rebuttal to ONE person.

What a lame bunch of people!

And as for surviving...I've lived in Korea for 8 years. How's that for survival?

And not that it is any of your business, but my vet says that both dogs are extremely healthy and has commented on how the younger one's liver problems are almost completely gone since she has gone vegan. He still doesn't believe me when I tell him how old my older dog is because he says he has the health and energy of a dog half his age. And how many people feed their dogs a plate of bloody flesh anyway? That is a rather stupid comparison to make. And how much research have you done on what exactly goes into commercial kibble?

I can't remember now which one of you mentioned it, but yes, I can see how this is a major boys' club. That doesn't particularly bother me as I wouldn't be associated with anyone you in Thailand anyway. If you guys don't want to share your information with me, fine, duly noted. I don't NEED to be here. I can easily get information elsewhere from people who would be willing to answer someone's question without jumping down her throat about something else entirely and getting all defensive and intimidated just because one of those scary vegans suddenly appeared in their midst. I have not been out to convert you guys, so what the heck are you so afraid of?

[clock]

OK I apologise, I shouldn't have jumped down your throat

it just seemed a little ridiculous when people are asking about organic vegan dog food and dog salons when there are millions of half-starved dogs in Thailand with their fur falling out and sores all over their bodies. I feed some of them occasionally and believe me they couldn't care less what it is.
At least they don't eat them here.....unlike Korea

[massivegeoff]

i would personally blanch at feeding tofu and blueberries to my dog, i would just like to say that MY dog is certainly an omnivore. if you look at most dry dog food, it is largely made of grains (wheat etc). even canned dogfood sometimes comes with veggies (the pedigree "chicken stew" i sometimes get has got ruddy great big green beans and carrot pieces in!). also, if your dog is loosing weight, vets recommend you feed them rice.

yes, living in thailand as a vegetarin IS difficult, but i have met many who manage it. (there are two words, "aharn jay" = vegan food and "mansala wee yat" = vegan person.)

and OP, yes you will meet a lot of really negative so and sos out here. but if you've lived in korea you've met their like already i expect!

i don't know about importing dogs as i bought mine here in thailand...i CAN tell you how hard it is to get one into the UK, but that's my problem. i did see a dog in a crate come onto the luggage carousel from a uk flight the other day. poor thing looked really confused, then the owner showed up and it went crazy (as would anyone who had been shut in a box for that long!).

owning a dog in thailand is good and bad.

bad - living in bangkok with a dog can be hard. i can't afford a house on my salary, but i managed to find an apartment block that allowed me to have the dog. there is a lack of real open space, certainly green space, to take your dog to. you can't go into lumpini park, and i got forcibly evicted from benjsiri park the other day! soi dogs can be a problem, some of them are really vicious towards people, much less other dogs. and the people can have a very strange attitue towards dogs. thais often either shy away from your dog, or might even try to throw something at it! it's also illegal to take pets into national parks.

good - vets, grooming and kennels are generally dirt cheap. in bangkok i found what is reputedly the most expensive vet/pet shop in bangkok - a course of antibiotics and various other pills came to a wapping 2500 baht. i'm sure in the us that's cheap! washing and grooming in bangers costs about 3 to 400 baht. when we lived near pattaya a vets bill usually coast less than 500 baht, grooming was 150 and a night in the kennel was 200 baht. if you do manage to find an ok soi to walk the dog, many thais keep their's locked up - houses always have walls and gates around and usually the dogs are inside. good if they're vicious, sad if they are really friendly and want to come and say hello. it's also relatively easy to take your dog to places on holiday, especially the beach. we've taken ours to ko samet and ko chang quite often.

as to what kind of dog food is available - you can get eukanuba, alpo, pedigree and various local brands.

i have a golden retriever, and if you have any more specific questions about owning a dog in thailand you can message me her eon dave's or email me at [email protected]

[Veganette]

clock,

Exactly when did I ask for ORGANIC vegan dog food? Never. I did ask if vets are willing to special order foods if they are currently available and how would I know unless I asked? Exactly when did I ask about dog salons? I didn't. I groom my own dogs.

As for the millions of half-starved dogs in Thailand, what? There are millions of half-starved people in the world. I shouldn't eat because of that? Or, at best, I should live off of ramyun because it's cheap? I know that there are starving dogs in the world. There are also starving cats, starving cows, starving people, starving birds, possibly even starving goldfish (not all kids are good about feeding their pet goldfish). What would you suggest I do about it? Will not feeding my dogs the best quality food I can get for them somehow alleviate all the dog suffering in Thailand? I think not. My dogs are part of my family. It is my responsibility to give them the best possible care--not to feed them cheap kibble just because other dogs don't have the loving homes that they deserve.

EDIT: Oops, I did ask about grooming. NOT dog salons, though. But, it would be nice to have someone else groom them now and then. I'm sure they'd look better and frankly, it's quite exhausting to do it yourself and then you've got dog hair floating about for days. Unfortunately, where I am now, well, the groomers know only one style: shave them to the skin. Result? I end up with pink Maltese. They hate it about as much as I do. While they might sometimes look like a large sewer rat was chewing on them, at least they always still HAVE some hair!

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

I can't believe you guys are arguing about dog food.


For me, what people choose to eat (or feed their dogs)

is an entirely personal matter, much like religion.


I think we ought to respect each other a bit more

before jumping to rash conclusions based on diet.


Getting back to the original question:


If you do end up here in Siam with your dog,

just be sure to get the health certificate from

a State authorized vet - or at least try to get

the cert notarized by a government agency.


It could save you some potential hassles at the airport,

as Amy mentioned on page 1 of this thread:

[Veganette]

[Veganette]

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

You are welcome, tofu and all.


re: Korean veterinary services:


http://www.nvrqs.go.kr/English/


If you e-mail them, they'll

know where to send you.

[Veganette]

Thank you, Kent!

And thanks for the link, too.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Don't mention it.







Time now for a vegetarian beer.