Poor Poor Lucy
Poor poor Lucy is out of commission for a while if the vet diagnosed her condition properly. It all started on Monday when we all went down to the family hunting cabin for a hike.
It was such a beautiful day, sunny and warm, we really enjoyed hiking through the woods. Lucy absolutely loves it there. It’s like heaven for a dog, tons of smells, rocks, leaves, acres and acres to explore.
Lucy was running across the field and suddenly yelped in pain and then started hopping along not using one of her back legs. We put her in the car and headed home, figuring she’d stepped on something or pulled a muscle. After giving her an aspirin and a vitamin C tablet that night we figured she’d be a little better in the morning. The following morning she was still limping around and not putting any weight on her back left leg. We figured something was wrong so we called and made an appointment with the vet for the following morning. Yesterday morning we were up bright and early to take Lucy to the vet. Lucy isn’t like most animals, she LOVES going to her vet, Stacy is one of her favorite people (the people at the vets are super fond of Lucy as well). Whenever I call they say, “Oh, you’re Lucy’s mom, we love Lucy.”
Lucy was diagnosed with a torn ACL, so I guess she’s not going pro. She’s on an anti-inflamatory and her mobility is restricted to see if she heals up. We’re trying a few homeopathic treatments: Tendon Rescue Gel, vitamin C & E and some Astragulus extract. Hopefully those work. She’s going to be on bed rest for a few weeks and then on restricted movement for a couple months. Poor poor Lucy can’t chase the UPS man. Hopefully she’s back up and running when spring comes, it’s her favorite time of year.
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Free Burt’s Bees Lip Balm
This year one of my goals is to detox our personal care routines. It all started a couple months ago when I was thinking about what was in my chapstick as I put it on for the 15th time that day. I wondered what exactly my body was absorbing from it, so I started reading up on the toxins in shampoo, soap, lotion and other personal care products and the problems they can cause. Scary stuff I must say. The next time I was at the store I picked up a tube of Burt’s Bees Honey Chapstick. Now that I’ve been using Burt’s Bees for several months I noticed that it actually works, I’m not constantly putting on chapstick. I use it in the morning and I don’t need it again until right before I go to bed, unlike the other kind that I felt like I was constantly using.
So what are the ingredients in Burt’s Bees Honey Chapstick: beeswax, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, lanolin, symphytum officinale (comfrey) root extract, flavor, honey, tocopheryl acetate, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, tocopherol. I know what each and every one of those ingredients is and it’s much better than the ingredients in my previous chapstick.
So what were the ingredients in the previous Chapstick I was using: Octinoxate, Octisalate, Octocrylene, Oxybenzone, White petrolatum, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, alumina, arachidyl propionate, artificial flavor, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), cetyl alcohol, colloidal silicon dioxide, copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax, ethylhexyl palmitate, isopropyl lanolate, isopropyl myristate, lanolin, medium chain triglycerides, methylparaben, mineral oil, octyldodecanol, oleyl alcohol, paraffin, phenyl trimethicone, polyhydroxystearic acid, propylparaben, saccharin, silica, titanium dioxide, vitamin E acetate, white wax.
Here are a few of the problems cause by some of the ingredients in my previous chapstick (and these are only the ingredients that I could find information on, who knows about the other ones):
Petrolatum: lung irritant upon inhalation; derived from petroleum; non-biodegradable environmental toxin.
Saccharin: suspected human carcinogen; causes liver, kidney, and bladder damage in animals, as well as reproductive damage and birth abnormalities.
BHT: endocrine disruptor, skin and lung toxicant at low doses; causes death, liver and stomach cancers, thrombosis, fibrosis and liver and brain damage in animals; strong skin and eye irritant.
Methylparaben: skin and eye irritant; endocrine disruptor linked to breast and ovarian cancer; environmental contaminant
Mineral Oil (liquid petrolatum): causes blood and skin cancer formations in animals; eye and skin irritant; derived from petroleum; non-biodegradable environmental toxin
Paraffin: petrochemical bleached with carcinogen acrolyn; releases carcinogens benzene and toluene upon heating; causes kidney or renal system tumor in animals; environmental toxin
Propylparaben: skin and eye irritant; endocrine disruptor linked to breast and ovarian cancer; environmental contaminant
Silica: linked to esophageal cancer, renal disease, pulmonary fibrosis, mesothelioma, sarcoma, rheumatoid arthritis, and bronchitis; strong nasal and lung irritant; wildlife toxicant; accumulates in the human body
So what’s wrong with putting all these chemicals on your lips or the any other parts of your body? First of all, your skin absorbs the chemicals from products you use (60-90% of them scientists say). If you don’t believe it think about those drug patches, one tiny patch and you body absorbs a weeks worth of drugs. Spend some time educating yourself on the ingredients in your personal care products and their possible side effects. Be careful because even some green, natural, and organic products contain many harmful chemicals. Where do you find information on these chemicals? The best book I have found is Julie Gabriel’s The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances
She includes a glossary of many of the toxic chemicals often used in products along with a reference guide for non-toxic products to try. She also includes a bunch of recipes for homemade non-toxic beauty products, I’m excited to whip up a few. Head on over to her a website and a blog, for even more information and recipes.
In order to encourage you to detox your routine I’m giving away the Burt’s Bees Mixed Lip Stash Pack shown above. Just comment on this post and I’ll have a random drawing in a few days to determine the winner. Good Luck!
Here’s to a non-toxic 2009!
I’ve also heard many people love the Yes to Carrots brand of chapsticks as well. Do you have a non-toxic product you love?
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Happy New Year!
Lucy’s wiped out this morning, she spent the evening at a friends house with us (they have a dog and he’s Lucy’s best friend). We had a low-key evening at the home of some friends. What did you do? Take the poll to the right.
Is anyone else still sleeping off the late night?
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5 + 1 = 6
Well, if you remember that little cat that showed up outside you’ll know what this post is about. He stuck around and no one claimed him (we put up posters all over town). So we took him to the vet, got him vaccinated and fixed, brought him home and coined him Dexter. 
We’ve been acclimating him to the other pets in the family for the past few weeks and all is well. They’re not best buddies yet, but the hissing has subsided. So now there are 6 members of the Chiot’s Run Family.
There’s the Chiots of course, the namesake of the garden.
Then there’s Samson, the orange cat I’ve always wanted. He’s a lovable cat always wanting to be held.
There’s Sofie, she’s the dominate pet in the household. She rules the roost and all the other animals answer to her. She’s also the biggest cat in the household, though you can’t tell by the photo. She beats up on the other cats to make sure they know she’s boss.
Of course now there’s Dexter. He’s the talkative member of the household, always chirping and meowing. He’s a playful little guy, probably because he’s only a year old.
He’s been fun to have around. We have however hit our limit of pets, 4 is enough for us. Too bad if any more show up, they’ll be left to fend for themselves.
How many pets do you have running around the house?
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Too Busy to Write Today
We’re too busy here at Chiot’s Run to write today.
