Healthy Alternatives for Cancer Dogs

by **HappyChick** » November 13th, 2009, 11:11 am

Since we now have a sticky on Cancer Diet suggestions, I thought it might be good to have one about other things we change when helping our dogs fight cancer and stay healthy. These tips would also be helpful and healthy to non-cancer dogs and humans too!

Here are some other things I've done to make Vinny's environment more healthy:

1) clean the floors with Vinegar and water now, no chemicals.
2) wash all the dog blankets and towels in natural or "green" detergent and fabric softener.
3) we installed a water filtration system because our tap water sucks. Everyone in the house is drinking healthier with this change.
4) instead of chemical air fresheners, I use my HoMedics Brethe machine with a few drops of essential oils not the stuff that is included with the Brethe. Here is a link for description: http://www.homedics.com/products/air-wa ... lizer.html . I only paid $25 for mine online. I think it works great!
5) no one is allowed to smoke cigarettes in the house. Dr. B explained to me that the molecules from smoking are heavy and go to the floor. Dogs are near to floor so they are exposed to more of those carcinogens.

What is everyone else doing along these lines? Any and all suggestions are welcome!

by **LMM** » November 13th, 2009, 11:17 am

I would love some tried and true suggestions for green cleaning products. Or the exact mix needed for water/vinegar to clean. I'm not crazy about the vinegar smell though.

by **Marinepits** » November 13th, 2009, 12:17 pm

HappyChick wrote:3) we installed a water filtration system because our tap water sucks. Everyone in the house is drinking healthier with this change.

We use a filter system as well -- our tap water is from an artesian well and it contains a LOT of salt and other minerals at dosages higher than recommended.

4) instead of chemical air fresheners, I use my HoMedics Brethe machine with a few drops of essential oils not the stuff that is included with the Brethe. Here is a link for description: http://www.homedics.com/products/air-wa ... lizer.html . I only paid $25 for mine online. I think it works great!

Ooooo, I have one of these too! I don't use the chemical scents included with the Brethe because I have birds and don't know how the chemicals will effect them (or us for that matter!) and use essential oils as well.

5) no one is allowed to smoke cigarettes in the house. Dr. B explained to me that the molecules from smoking are heavy and go to the floor. Dogs are near to floor so they are exposed to more of those carcinogens.

That's interesting. No one is allowed to smoke in/around my house because I am deathly allergic to cig smoke.

by **HappyChick** » November 13th, 2009, 10:43 pm

LMM wrote:I would love some tried and true suggestions for green cleaning products. Or the exact mix needed for water/vinegar to clean. I'm not crazy about the vinegar smell though.

Here are some of the products I use. I use Method dish washing liquid which is supposed to be natural and biodegradeable. All our dishes are handwashed in this. It cost me about $5 a bottle. So far I like it, it's fairly thick and doesn't take a lot to get the job done. Here is a link to it:

http://www.enviroproductsworld.com/dishsoap.html

The laundry detergent I use for the dogs' laundry is Simplicity. Here is the link:

http://www.simplicityclean.com/

I use this for general surface cleaning:

http://www.naturessourcecleaners.com/gl ... rface.aspx

Vinegar and water -- you can google the exact mix, I use the "Pour it in till I think that's enough vinegar" method. :mrgreen:

Next time I clean the floors with it, I'll try adding some essential oils and see if that tempers the smell.

by **LMM** » November 13th, 2009, 11:14 pm

Cool, thanks! Let me know about the smell project!

by **CinderDee** » November 14th, 2009, 4:05 am

Angie,
Where did you get the Brethe for $25.00?

Let's see...I clean with vinegar, don't use any air fresheners and Kato drinks spring water. I also have some type of green cleaner but I don't know the name. I've heard Mrs Meyers has good products but I've only used the laundry detergent.
http://www.mrsmeyers.com/Default.aspx

by **Marinepits** » November 14th, 2009, 9:13 am

Love Mrs Meyers products, but they're expensive around here. Their Peppermint counter spray is yummy!

by **hugapitbull** » November 14th, 2009, 9:44 am

Another alternative to the green cleaners are the steam cleaner products. I have a steam mop and love it. A friend bought one of the hand held steamers last weekend, you can use it on all kinds of things: countertops, bedding, practically an unlimited list.

by **HappyChick** » November 14th, 2009, 11:25 am

CinderDee wrote:Angie,
Where did you get the Brethe for $25.00?

I bought it last fall/winter from someplace online, sorry I don't remember where. At the time I searched until I found the cheapest one with the lowest shipping. I must have gotten pretty lucky with that price. I was looking today for them online and the cheapest I found so far is a "buy it now" price of $35 on Ebay with $10 shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-HOMEDICS-BRETHE ... 2c518dfe92

hugapitbull wrote:Another alternative to the green cleaners are the steam cleaner products. I have a steam mop and love it. A friend bought one of the hand held steamers last weekend, you can use it on all kinds of things: countertops, bedding, practically an unlimited list.

I'd like to check out the steam cleaner products. Do you have a link for your steam mop? Can you use it on bare wood floors?

by **BigDogBuford** » November 14th, 2009, 11:32 am

I LOVE Mrs. Meyers and use those products almost exclusively.

by **LMM** » November 14th, 2009, 3:51 pm

What's the scoop on the Mrs. Meyers products?

by **BigDogBuford** » November 14th, 2009, 4:10 pm

LMM wrote:What's the scoop on the Mrs. Meyers products?

What do you mean? I just order them from the website. Generally they will send out a coupon for free shipping as well.

http://www.mrsmeyers.com

by **LMM** » November 14th, 2009, 4:28 pm

No, what's go great about them? I don't mean to sound smart alecky, I've just never heard of them

by **BigDogBuford** » November 14th, 2009, 4:41 pm

LMM wrote:No, what's go great about them? I don't mean to sound smart alecky, I've just never heard of them

Oh! Haha. Harsh chemical free and they smell really, really good. At least I like them. They literally make me enjoy cleaning. There are a lot of cleaning products that either give me a headache or affect my respiration (Simple Green). These don't seem to irritate me at all.....

I saw some at my local store, liked the scent and picked some up. I've been hooked ever since. Also, with seven stinky dogs I like anything that smells good that doesn't smell pine-y or like cheap soap. And I can't stand the smell of vinegar.

by **hugapitbull** » November 15th, 2009, 10:04 am

HappyChick wrote:I'd like to check out the steam cleaner products. Do you have a link for your steam mop? Can you use it on bare wood floors?

Angie,
I have the Pocket Mop - love it. It can be used on hardwood floors, but not sure about unsealed. I would think it would be ok if you use a regular mop, it leaves less water on the surface than a regular mop.

http://www.sharkclean.com/cgi-bin/livew/site.w?location=b2c/retail-gateway.w&prodcat=03&feature=cat&frames=no&target=main&sponsor=000001

Got mine at Bed, Bath, & Beyond (had coupons), but Walmart & Target carry them, so they are widely available. Also there are other brands you may like better.

by **LMM** » November 15th, 2009, 10:03 pm

BigDogBuford wrote:
LMM wrote:No, what's go great about them? I don't mean to sound smart alecky, I've just never heard of them

Oh! Haha. Harsh chemical free and they smell really, really good. At least I like them. They literally make me enjoy cleaning. There are a lot of cleaning products that either give me a headache or affect my respiration (Simple Green). These don't seem to irritate me at all.....

I saw some at my local store, liked the scent and picked some up. I've been hooked ever since. Also, with seven stinky dogs I like anything that smells good that doesn't smell pine-y or like cheap soap. And I can't stand the smell of vinegar.

Me either so this sounds like a great alternative! The website has what looks like a starter pack, should I just start with that?

by **BigDogBuford** » November 15th, 2009, 10:31 pm

If I were you, I'd buy some of the all purpose cleaner. You can use it to mop floors and such and if you dilute it in a spray bottle it makes a great counter top spray. Then, if you like if you can try the other products.

by **LMM** » November 15th, 2009, 10:39 pm

Okay, will do!

by **CinderDee** » November 15th, 2009, 11:35 pm

I'd like to check out the steam cleaner products. Do you have a link for your steam mop? Can you use it on bare wood floors?

Didn't Joyce buy one too?

by **HappyChick** » November 18th, 2009, 3:56 pm

LMM wrote:Cool, thanks! Let me know about the smell project!

The smell project - 1 gallon of water, 1/2 cup of vinegar, approximately 10 drops of Orange essential oil.
While cleaning the floor with this combo, I couldn't smell anything but Orange unless I stuck my nose right down in the bucket. I think the orange oil did a great job of hiding the vinegar smell.

So there you have it!

Healthy Alternatives for Cancer Dogs

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