"Any recommendations in Asheville areas regarding...

vets- no pets

physicians- for a city of it's size, Asheville has excellent medical care, where you eventually settle in and what kind of insurance you have will determine what physician would be best

urologists- having been cursed with kidney stones, I can highly recommend Victoria Urological- Dr. Friedman is my urologist- wouldn't describe him as jolly

dermatologists- Dr. Ariail on S. French Broad is my dermatologist- good guy

dentists- lived here 40 years(yes, I'm the one native that lives in the area that you might have heard about) and have not had much luck with dentists

hairdresser- can't help here

health clubs- I work out at the spa at Westgate and like it but a new road will probably plow right through it, have heard good things about the Y in South Asheville

hiking- you won't have any problem finding places to hike, the Blue Ridge Parkway is minutes away

birdwatching- my dad could tell you, but that I do not know

the best supermarket- always been partial to Ingles(Bob Ingle is from Asheville), however, you can probably find cheaper. If you are partial to organic, Earth Fare at Westgate is the place to go, but big bucks

and anything else will be greatly appreciated- while I'm a native and lived here a good part of my life, I have been to a lot of places. I love this city and always look forward to coming home- I work in a job where I deal with people's finances so I will tell you the thing that most transplants share with me- They are all SHOCKED at how few jobs and how low paying these jobs are. They all say they were making much more elsewhere. Despite this situation, it is not counter balanced by lower living expenses. Houses are expensive, as a lot of people who have money are moving here and jacking up the housing market.( thus, the comment on natives, who seem like they are being pushed out) The people who move here, however, seem to adopt the overall good nature of the people of Asheville. Most have been stressed and appreciate the chance to slow down. I'm assuming that y'all have already secured employment or money is not a problem. Despite the one negative I mentioned(admittedly a biggie), you will love this place. 4 seasons, but none too severe. You get some snow, but coming from the Adirondacks, you won't even notice. Fall is wonderful. Spring is wonderful. Summer is warm, but pleasant.
There is an NBDL basketball team. A nice little minor league team called the Tourists. A hockey team that will start operation again soon. There is a small, but excellent university, UNCA.and, Please, oh please, if you adopt a North Carolina sports team, make it NC State. The Carolina fans around here are obnoxious, lol.
Sorry, I got carried away. I love this place, and hope you do too. Feel free to ask any questions
WELCOME!!!

This is one last response to "Antlori." When I told my husband about your "Houdini" cat trick his first response was "Why don't they film it and submit it to America's Funniest Videos?" Just a suggestion which may earn you some money!!!

Thanks for the suggestion, teacherD. I could use the extra money. The only trouble with cats is that they seldom do what you want them to do when you want them to do it. If she thinks you're watching her, she's little miss perfect. Maybe I can set up a hidden camera and see what happens. The only thing predictable about a cat is it's unpredictability!

I find that anytime I grab my camera to photograph one of my cats, the cat immediately jumps up and walks toward me, until it's nose is 2" from the camera lens, and I can't take the picture.

Donna

All animals react differently as individuals to drugs just as people do. My concern with sedating a 17 yo cat is kidney function. Cats that age often have borderline kidney function. Many sedatives lower blood pressure. If your cat hasn't been drinking because of the stress of moving you can end up with a situation that could cause kidney damage. Animals may not tolerate human medications well. Cats, in particular, are very sensitive. Tylenol can kill them. NEVER give an over-the-counter med without talking to your vet.

I didn't notice that your cat was 17 years old. Now that I'm aware of that, I strongly agree with the warnings against sedating her. I have a cat that is 16 1/2, and my vet just last week advised me against sedating her to correct a condition that is aggravating, but not dangerous. One of my friends also had 2 cats in that age group who had sedation for surgery, and both died within 2 months. I'm sure your kitty will survive the trip with a minimum of trauma. In my experience, once they get used to the motion of the car, and if they feel comfortable and secure, and can hear your voice, they usually sleep during the entire drive. (However, I still vote for a carrier, to keep kitty from wandering around or hiding under the seat, until she gets used to the situation.)

Donna

I have nothing to add of any importance to this thread, I just love the subject line. It reminds me of a few years ago, DH and I were driving south to Big Sur. Tthere was CalTrans work being done to Bixby Bridge, and we found ourselves with a very long wait in a long line of traffic. In front of us was a motocycle with a side car pulling a small canvas covered trailer. On the back of the trailer it read "For the dog and those damn cats." We had a great deal of fun trying to imagine the couple on the bike traveling across country with a dog and a couple of cats in a motorcyle and a side car.

It has been one month since we safely arrived in North Carolina. We are staying in a small apartment while our house is being built. I just want you to know how much I appreciated all your suggestions and recommendations.

Our cat surprised us with her good behavior during 16 hours trip that included one overnight stay in Pennsylvania. She cried and screamed for the first 30-40 minutes in a carrier. Then I remembered Gail went through similar experience and we decided to let her out. From that moment on, she was quiet for the rest of the trip. She stayed on the back seat without making any sound. She slept or looked out of the window. She did not eat or drink in the car. Only time we used the carrier was to take her into and out of the hotel and then to our apartment. She survived movers bringing our furniture, washer and dryer installers and being not able to go in and out all day long. She likes to stay on the balcony and occasionally we take her outside in the evening. She does not object being on a leash. You were right, khan, this cat too does not walk like a dog on a leash. She actually stands in one place and looks around, then she takes small step and stops again. As to sedating her for a trip, our vet disagreed with this idea.

Thank you also for recommendations regarding Asheville. We now live south of Asheville and moving to our new house in Flat Rock in February. Meanwhile, we are getting acquainted with this lovely area. We feel fortunate as we moved form gorgeous Adirondacks to such beautiful part of North Carolina.

I have the best photo of my grandmother, standing on the side of the road in the Desert / Arizona I think, with her Siamese cat on a leash..
She bred those cats and they were always traveling and the cats came too!

I guess it was passed down through our genes because I took my little cat with me when we would rent houses in various places for the summer and of course, when we moved.
He went into a big crate, with his favorite blanket..a small stuffed toy and that would go in back seat. When we would stop for breaks, I would sit in the back, take him out and pet him, and see if he wanted a break..cats can go pretty long without needing to pee so we never walked him on a leash..he would have just freaked out at the strangeness of everything. But 5-6 hours was the longest we ever had him in a carrier.
Take his familiar litter box and when you arrive at the hotel, put it in the bathroom, and once he has sniffed his way all around the room, put him in the bathroom with the box..I found mine asleep once, half in and half out of this box, perhaps he wanted to be sure it did not get left behind?
I do not recommend taking the cat out of his box and holding him while you travel, I did it once and he was very curious and looked out the window, then sank his claws in my shoulder wanting back in his crate..he was once so fussy, I threw a towel over the crate and he went right to sleep..
We took him as far as Cape Cod, he travelled from the time he was about 6 months old until the summer he was 16. He died when he was 18..right after he showed Pup how to catch a butterfly.
We moved from NYC to Fl this past Jan..La Quinta is very good with pets, no charge or deposit. We stopped in NC on the way down, staying in a Comfort Inn. ( Some hotels ask for a "non-refundable" deposit, which to my way of thinking is just a plain old charge, since they do not refund it..usually $25-75..
Good luck, and congratulations on your new home~

Scarlett, thanks. How long it took you to make new friends and feel as you belong in this new place?

This thread is of great interest because we're going to be moving next year from Toronto to Victoria BC. We have two cats that will be coming with us. My sweetie thinks perhaps they will be OK in the car (the trip might take as long as a week) as long as they're with us. We're both aware that the cats won't especially enjoy a plane trip, but it would be only a day's worth of disruption rather than a week's. They will NOT travel in cargo - we have checked the airline's policy and they can travel in the cabin with us, subject to certain conditions. But we're still not quite decided about how to do this. We're concerned that if they are truly miserable in the car and this becomes apparent after a day or two on the road, we're stuck. The cats are not offering any opinions as yet.

Meesthare - Your cats just emailed me saying they would rather fly than be in a car for a week.

rkkwan, that is very funny

Wildflower, we have only been here 8 months and 2 of those were spent getting the house renovated..now we are learning first hand about Hurricanes, so we are taking a little while to adjust.
I grew up in NC and love Asheville, it is a lovely city with nice people and plenty of things to do.
I am sure you two ( sorry, three ) will be happy and will adjust quickly.

Scarlett, I hope this new hurricane won't do any damage to your area. We too got some flooding fom the last huricane and now all apples, vegetables and flowers growers worry what is going to happen in the end of this week. We had many roads closed and rivers are still very high.

It is another beautiful sunny day today. I could see the mountains from my balcony. All people, except one guy, around here are really wonderful. My husband already feels this is where he belongs. Our cat spends a lots of time on the balcony and we already attracted hummingbirds so it is almost as we are home. You are right about plenty to do around Asheville. We do keep busy.

rkkwan - thanks for telling me! I told those cats to stay away from the computer, but no..oo..oo!!
Actually I'm glad they spoke up. We were thinking along the same lines.

The weather is fine, grey, warm, here today. We are hopeful that we can get out of here on Monday for our trip to Portland Oregon. Tropical Storm Jeanne is bearing down on us now ~sigh~
We used to go hiking in and around Asheville, it is gorgeous in the fall!

ttt for Jessie