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Most people who find this blog find it because they are sick and looking for answers. They are dealing with chronic illness, MTHFR, endometriosis, inflammation, or just a general sense that something in their environment is working against them and they are ready to do something about it.
That is my story too. But here is something most people do not know about me.
I started going low tox for my pets years before I ever thought about doing it for myself.
This post is about why. And it is a love letter to every animal who has passed through our family and left a mark that never fully heals.
The Ones We Have Loved and Lost
Between my mom, my two sisters and me we have had eight dogs and two cats over the years. Five of the dogs died from cancer. One dog died from something that seven different vets and emergency rooms over a month could not identify or treat despite every test coming back fine. Only one dog lived what most people would consider a full and complete life. Of the two cats, one passed from liver failure after years of health complications and one passed from a tragic accident. Not a single one of them lived long enough.
I want to tell you about all of them because they are the reason I am writing this post. They are the reason any of this matters to me.
Beauty arrived the way the best dogs always do, unexpectedly and at exactly the right moment. My mom worked nights at a bowling alley and came home one night with a dog someone had abandoned there. She was not in good shape when she arrived. But we heard the clink clack of dog nails on the hardwood floor, all of us jumping out of sleep and running to see what was happening, and we were greeted by a sweet beautiful black fluffy Newfoundland who somehow already felt like ours. I was about eleven years old. Beauty lived to be somewhere between sixteen and eighteen. Cancer eventually took her but she had a long full life and we had her until I was around twenty-seven. She earned her years.
Luther was my mom’s next dog. A humongous very fluffy white Great Pyrenees, an absolute gentle giant, all love and softness in a body that took up most of the room. He lived to be around ten years old. Cancer.
Panda was my sister Rachell’s English Staffordshire Bull Terrier. A beefcake of a dog, built like a tank and fiercely protective, the kind of dog who would look at a stranger like she was ready to have a serious conversation with them if their energy was off. But she loved the people she loved completely and we always felt safe with her around. She passed at just eleven years old. Cancer.
Meeko was my other sister Tausha’s beautiful brindle pitbull and she was the biggest goofball to ever exist. She loved food and she loved love in equal measure. Once she jumped up onto a recliner where I was sitting to get some affection and took the whole chair, me and herself all the way backwards. I think about that moment and smile every time. She passed at ten years old. Cancer.
Wooster was Rachell’s sleek black pointer/lab with a shiny healthy coat and a personality that made everyone who met him love him immediately. He was the exception in our family in one important way, my sister was feeding him a whole food diet and he was genuinely healthy. Thriving. His only complaint was that he was allergic to grass which honestly felt like the universe playing a joke. Not a fan of Brussels sprouts either, which I fully respect as a personal choice. Wooster’s story did not end in cancer. That matters. I noticed.
Then there was Fluffy and Olivia.
Fluffy was a large beautiful Himalayan cat I adopted from a couple on Craigslist along with his partner Olivia. Large is actually an understatement. He weighed 24 pounds when I brought him home. I named him after Gabriel Iglesias — not fat, just fluffy — and I stand by that decision.
His personality was something else entirely. He looked perpetually annoyed at the world and to most people he presented exactly that way. Walk past him at the wrong moment and he would get you, just on principle, because how dare you. But if you were eating something he was deeply interested in what you had and would absolutely attempt to take it directly off your plate. Cheese. Meat. Chocolate obviously. None of these were given to him willingly but he did have to be chased down on more than one occasion to retrieve whatever he had managed to steal. He was committed to the bit.
And then there was the plastic.
I did not know about the plastic when I adopted him. This was information his previous owners chose not to share with me, which I have feelings about. I found out the hard way one night when I came home from work and Olivia was acting strange, meowing at me, bringing me to where Fluffy was laying on the floor looking completely uncomfortable and in pain. I found a vet that night and it turned out he was severely constipated from eating a plastic bag. Not chewing on it. Not licking it. Eating it. He spent five days in the hospital.
When I pulled his records from his previous vet it turned out he had a long documented history of eating plastic. This was apparently something they were aware of and simply did not mention.
From that moment I became obsessed with removing plastic from my home. You do not realize how much disposable plastic you have until you are frantically going through every room looking for anything a determined Himalayan with a nose for the stuff might find. He always found it anyway. I would de-plastic the whole house and somehow he would locate a piece I did not even know existed. His nose for plastic was genuinely impressive in the most exhausting way possible.
The plastic eating led to chronic constipation which eventually caused mega colon which created a whole cascade of ongoing medical needs including regular enemas, sanitary trims because his very long fur would create its own complications during bathroom attempts, and more vet bills on credit cards than I am going to put in writing. I did manage to get him from 24 pounds down to 14 pounds and I am proud of that. He was a project and a half and I loved him completely.
Fluffy eventually passed from liver failure.
Olivia, named after the one and only Olivia Benson from Law and Order SVU, was his partner and she was everything he was not in the best possible way. A sweet beautiful calico who loved him deeply and showed it constantly. She had her own little ritual of making me turn the bathtub faucet on to just a drip so she could drink the water there instead of her bowl, which I did every single time because of course I did. When Fluffy passed she was never the same. She passed not long after from a tragic accident.
I am glad they are together again. 💙
And here is something worth noting about Fluffy specifically:
A 24 pound cat eating plastic bags and ending up with mega colon and liver failure is not just a sad story about a cat with unusual dietary preferences. It is a story about what chronic exposure to plastics does to a body over time. Fluffy’s plastic eating was extreme and obvious. But the slow, invisible exposure that most of our pets experience daily through plastic food bowls, plastic water dishes, plastic lined food bags and chemical laden products is a quieter version of the same problem. Fluffy just made it impossible to ignore.
He is part of why this matters to me as much as it does.
Then there was Baby.
I need to take a breath before I write about Baby because six years later it still sits right at the surface.
We adopted Baby and her kennel mate from the shelter. The shelter said she was around eight years old. The vet thought she was younger, maybe four or five. Her history before the shelter was unknown but her body told a story. She was a mix, mostly Australian Shepherd and pitbull, and she was scared of everything. Small movements. Voices that got a little louder. Doorways she did not know. She did not know how to get in a car. She did not know how to play. She flinched at things that would not register as anything to a dog who had known safety.
I accidentally dropped the mail next to her once during a walk and she nearly jumped out of her skin. I was so careful after that. It broke my heart to not know what she had been through but to understand so clearly that whatever it was had left marks.
We had her for about a year and a half.
In that year and a half she learned how to play. She learned what love felt like. She learned she could cross doorways she did not know. She learned how to get in the car and she LOVED car rides once she understood they were a good thing. She learned that the leash meant walks and walks were wonderful. She learned how to sleep peacefully because she finally knew what safety was. She even learned how to bark — just three times, only during play, the most specific and deliberate bark I have ever heard from a dog.
She learned how to be a dog.
And then cancer took her. Cancer in the blood vessels and spleen. Her first seizure sent us rushing to the emergency vet. Emergency surgery to remove her spleen. Seven thousand dollars on the credit card without a second of hesitation because money was not going to be the reason I did not try everything. Within a few months of the surgery she was gone.
I think about those three barks all the time. 💙
And then there was Daisy.
Daisy was Baby’s kennel mate at the shelter. An estimated two year old Chow Chow mix, though I suspected she was older. Every dog Daisy had been kenneled with before Baby she had gotten into a fight with. Then they put her with Baby and they just loved each other immediately. We adopted them together because how could we not.
Her history before the shelter was also unknown but she was well trained, obedient, knew tricks, loved walks and car rides. Someone had loved her very much before whatever happened that led her to the shelter. I hope they knew she was deeply loved after.
I do not know what Daisy died from because neither did seven different vets and emergency rooms over the course of more than a month. She was bleeding from her rear end constantly, just sitting or laying there, and every single test came back fine. Blood work fine. Imaging fine, minus tiny spots on her lungs we had an appointment scheduled to investigate. We never made it to that appointment. I woke up one morning and she had bled out on my bedroom floor after I had spent over a month fighting for her through every channel available to me.
In my grief I called every single vet who had looked at her and told me she was fine. I needed them to know she was not fine. She was never fine. I knew it and I said it every single appointment and nobody listened.
I still hear those words. She is fine. She is fine. She is fine.
She was not fine. And I am still not over it. That was five years ago and I am still not over it.
Why I Started Paying Attention
Five dogs. One cat. Five cancer diagnoses across our family. One death from something nobody could diagnose. One death from liver failure. And Wooster, the one my sister fed a whole food diet, who did not die of cancer.
I noticed. I could not not notice.
I already knew I wanted to give Baby and Daisy a better chance than the dogs who came before them. So while I was still feeding them better quality kibble I started researching, slowly and carefully, because I did not want to just guess. I wanted to know. I spent my spare time learning everything I could about canine nutrition from the beginning and started introducing things gradually — chicken, green beans, small additions to see how they responded.
Baby never made it past the chicken and green beans. After she passed I went even harder for Daisy. I found a veterinarian online named Dr. Judy Morgan who has over thirty years of experience and genuinely knows what she is talking about. I bought her recipe book and made several recipes but mostly settled on the Puploaf — a complete balanced whole food meal that needs no additional supplements. Daisy loved that food with her whole body. It was a labor of love and I would do it again in a heartbeat for any future dog.
I have not gotten another dog since Daisy passed. My heart is not ready yet. But when it is, I will know exactly how to feed them.
If you have a dog and you want to start feeding them better, I cannot recommend Dr. Judy Morgan’s work enough. She has both the original Yin and Yang Nutrition for Dogs and an updated version Yin and Yang 2.0 both of which are on my Low-Tox Pet Essentials page along with other food recommendations.
Now There Are Three Cats
I started going low tox for my pets years before I did it for myself. By the time Sheldon, Temperance and Autumn came into my life I already understood that what surrounds our animals matters enormously. What they eat, what they breathe, what touches their paws and their fur and their skin, it all adds up. Cats especially are vulnerable because they groom themselves constantly, which means anything on their coat goes directly into their body.
Let me introduce you to the three residents of this low tox home.
Sheldon is named after Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, yes he has his spot, and no you may not sit there. He is close to fourteen years old and still going strong. He used to sneeze constantly. He does not sneeze nearly as much anymore and at his age he is more playful than he has any right to be. I credit the cleaner air and the cleaner home for at least part of that.
Temperance is named after Temperance Brennan from Bones. She is about ten years old, unbothered by most things, and a proper lady in every sense of the word. She used to drink from the toilet because she preferred running water. Don’t tell her I told you that but this is not the behavior of someone who considers herself above such things and yet. She no longer does this since I got them a water fountain and she has apparently decided that is acceptable for a lady of her standing.
Autumn is our newest addition at just one year old. I specifically did not name her Salem or Midnight or Shadow because she deserved a name that felt like her own. She came into our lives like a whole season changing everything and Autumn just fit. She is chaotic in the most delightful way and has been playful since day one which means I cannot give the low tox home credit for her energy the way I can with the older two.
What I Actually Use and Why
Water — Stainless Steel Fountain The first swap I made for the cats was their water bowl. Temperance had made her position on still water very clear by drinking from the toilet and I needed a solution that did not involve me having to explain to guests why my dignified cat was doing that. A stainless steel water fountain solved it immediately. Stainless steel matters here because plastic water bowls can leach chemicals especially as they age and develop scratches, and cats drink from their water source constantly throughout the day. This is the fountain I use.
Food — Reveal Wet Food and Instinct Dry Food I give them Reveal wet cat food as a treat as it’s not a complete meal — they particularly love the tuna and seaweed flavor and even Sheldon and Temperance who are usually sauce-only people will actually eat the meat in this one which tells you something. For their regular diet I use Instinct dry food. Both of these and others are on my Low-Tox Pet Essentials page.
I tried to get the cats interested in some of the whole food ingredients I was making for the dogs. They communicated very clearly that this was beneath them and they would not be participating. Cats.
Litter — Stainless Steel Boxes with World’s Best Cat Litter I use two large stainless steel litter boxes because plastic litter boxes absorb odors and bacteria over time no matter how well you clean them and they are impossible to fully sanitize. Stainless steel can be properly cleaned and does not hold onto anything.
For litter I use World’s Best Cat Litter which is made from whole kernel corn, biodegradable, flushable (I don’t recommend flushing any litter though) and free of the synthetic fragrances and chemicals that conventional clumping litters are full of. Cats breathe right at litter box level when they use it. What is in that litter is going into their lungs with every visit. That matters.
Both the litter boxes and litter are on my Low-Tox Pet Essentials page along with other litters I recommend.
Cat Tree — Mau Lifestyle Most cat trees on the market are made with pressed wood full of formaldehyde, synthetic fabrics treated with flame retardants, and glues that off-gas VOCs directly into the air your cats breathe and the surfaces they sleep on. Cats spend a significant portion of their lives on their cat tree. What it is made of matters.
The Mau Lifestyle cat tree is beautiful, sustainably made and genuinely safe. It is an investment but it is one that lasts and one I feel good about. You can find it and others on my Low-Tox Pet Essentials page.
Cleaning Products — Branch Basics and Unscented Options This is one of the most important sections of this post because what you clean your home with affects your pets significantly. Pets may walk across freshly cleaned floors, lick residue off surfaces, inhale fumes, or knock over bottles while exploring. Many household cleaners contain ingredients that are toxic to dogs and cats. Exposure can occur through licking, inhaling fumes, skin contact, or ingestion.
I use Branch Basics for my regular cleaning and have had zero issues. I know it works for my cats because Temperance used to react to my old conventional cleaner in a way that I can only describe as acting like a crackhead — rolling all over the floor wherever I had sprayed it, completely losing her composure. She no longer does this. I had to put her through cold turkey withdrawal from the chemicals and she has been clean ever since. 😄
A note on my floor cleaner: I have been using the ATTITUDE Lavender Rosemary floor cleaner but I want to be transparent about something I looked into while writing this post. The research on lavender and cats is genuinely conflicted, some sources list it as a concern while others note that many major pet product companies use lavender in cat-specific products without apparent issue. Out of an abundance of caution I am switching to an unscented floor cleaner. When in doubt with cats, fragrance free is always the safer choice.
Air Purifiers I have two air purifiers running in my home. One is in my bedroom and one is positioned right next to the litter boxes specifically for odor control. The HEPA filter captures airborne litter particles and the activated carbon handles the smell, without any synthetic fragrance sprays or plug-in air fresheners which are genuinely harmful to cats. I wrote a full post about the best air purifiers for a low tox home which you can find on my blog.
Grooming and Bathing
For cats: Cats do not need baths and attempting one is a relationship test most people fail. Their grooming system is genuinely remarkable and interfering with it using conventional pet shampoos full of synthetic fragrance and harsh surfactants does more harm than good.
If your cat needs spot cleaning for something specific, a warm damp cloth is honestly the safest option. The pet wipe market sounds convenient but remember that cats groom themselves constantly, anything on a wipe goes directly into their body when they lick their coat afterward. Warm water and a soft cloth. Simple and safe.
For dogs: Dogs do need occasional baths and what you wash them with matters just as much as what you wash yourself with. Conventional dog shampoos are loaded with synthetic fragrance, harsh detergents and chemical preservatives that sit on your dog’s skin and coat and get licked off during grooming. For dogs with sensitive skin, allergies or any kind of inflammatory condition this can make things significantly worse.
I recommend 4Legger All Natural Organic Oatmeal Dog Shampoo — certified organic, free of synthetic fragrance, sulfates and parabens, and gentle enough for dogs with sensitive skin. Oatmeal is naturally soothing and anti-inflammatory which makes it a great choice for any dog dealing with skin irritation or allergies. You can find it on my Low-Tox Pet Essentials page.
What Is Actually Dangerous for Pets That Nobody Talks About
Cats and dogs are not small humans. Their metabolisms are fundamentally different and many things that are completely safe for us are genuinely toxic to them. Cats are particularly vulnerable because they cannot metabolize certain compounds the way dogs and humans can, but dogs have their own list of concerns too. Here is what every pet owner needs to know:
Phenols — especially dangerous for cats Phenols are found in some disinfectants and are particularly toxic to cats. Products like Pine-Sol and Dettol contain phenols and any cleaner that turns white or milky in water likely contains them. Cats lack the liver enzyme needed to break phenols down which means even small exposures can accumulate to dangerous levels. Avoid entirely around cats.
Essential oils — dangerous for both, especially cats Tea tree, lavender, citrus, pine and eucalyptus essential oils are all concerning for cats and many are harmful to dogs as well. This includes diffusers. What you diffuse into your air your pets breathe constantly at a much lower level to the ground than you do. Cats are significantly more sensitive than dogs but neither should be exposed to concentrated essential oils directly or in high concentrations in the air.
Synthetic fragrance — dangerous for both In cleaning products, candles, plug-in air fresheners, laundry products, anything with the word fragrance on the label. Pets are far more sensitive to airborne chemicals than humans and their smaller body size means a lower threshold for exposure to cause problems. The synthetic fragrance that gives your home that clean smell is one of the most common sources of respiratory irritation in household pets.
Formaldehyde — dangerous for both Indoor pollution much of which is caused by household cleaners and off-gassing materials can put pets at risk for anemia, liver and kidney damage and cancer. Formaldehyde off-gasses from pressed wood furniture, pet beds, cat trees, certain fabrics and some cleaning products. Your pets spend far more time close to these surfaces than you do.
Conventional cat litter — dangerous for cats Most clumping clay litters contain silica dust which cats inhale at every litter box visit, synthetic fragrances, and sodium bentonite which expands significantly when it gets wet. Your cat breathes right at litter box level with their face directly in the litter. The litter matters enormously and is one of the most overlooked sources of daily toxic exposure for indoor cats.
Conventional flea treatments — dangerous for both, critical for cats Many topical flea treatments contain pyrethrins or permethrins which are highly toxic to cats. Even some dog flea products, if a cat comes into contact with a treated dog, can cause serious neurological harm and in some cases death. Dogs are also exposed to chemical flea treatments directly on their skin which absorbs into their system over time. Always check with a vet before using any flea treatment on or around your pets and look for natural alternatives where possible.
Conventional pet food — dangerous for both Ultra processed kibble full of synthetic preservatives, artificial colors, rendered mystery proteins and fillers is the equivalent of feeding your pet fast food every single meal of their entire life. The correlation between highly processed pet food and the rise in pet cancer, diabetes and inflammatory disease is something the pet food industry does not want to talk about. Better food does not have to mean homemade from scratch, even small upgrades in food quality make a real difference over time.
Plastic food and water bowls — dangerous for both Plastic bowls scratch over time and those scratches harbor bacteria that never fully wash out. Plastic also leaches chemicals especially as it ages and degrades. Your pet eats and drinks from their bowl multiple times every single day. Switching to stainless steel or ceramic is one of the easiest and most affordable swaps you can make.
The floor itself — dangerous for both Pets are much closer to the floor than we are and they do not just walk on it. They lick their paws, groom themselves and sometimes lie directly on freshly cleaned surfaces. So anything left behind on the floor has a direct path into their system. What you mop with matters more for your pets than it does for you. Dogs are particularly vulnerable because they tend to lick their paws after walks and after walking on freshly cleaned floors.
Xylitol — dangerous for dogs specifically Xylitol is a sweetener found in sugar free gum, some peanut butters, certain baked goods and some medications. It is extremely toxic to dogs even in very small amounts and can cause rapid insulin release, liver failure and death. Always check ingredient labels on anything your dog might get into including human snacks and medications.
Grapes, raisins, onions and garlic — dangerous for dogs These common kitchen staples are toxic to dogs and can cause kidney failure and other serious complications. Worth knowing especially if you have a food motivated dog. Looking at you Meeko. 😄
Why This All Matters
Five dogs across our family. Five cancer diagnoses. One dog fed a whole food diet who did not get cancer.
I cannot prove causation. I can tell you what I observed and what I believe and what I have chosen to do differently for the animals in my care because of what I watched happen to the animals I loved and lost.
Sheldon is almost fourteen years old and more playful than he was a year ago. Temperance has quit the toilet and the cleaners. Autumn is one year old and completely chaotic which is either the low tox environment or just being one year old and we may never know.
But their fur is soft and their eyes are bright and they are here and I am not taking a single day of that for granted.
This post is for Beauty, Luther, Panda, Meeko, Wooster, Fluffy, Olivia, Baby and Daisy.
You deserved better than what the world gave you. I am trying to do better for the ones who came after. 💙
A Note to Pet Parents Reading This
If you are reading this and feeling a pang of guilt over the food you have been feeding, the litter you have been using, the cleaner you have been spraying, the bowl you have been filling, please put that guilt down. It does not belong to you.
You did not know. None of us knew. These products line the shelves of every pet store and grocery store with friendly packaging and pictures of healthy happy animals on the front. We were never given a reason to question them. We trusted that if something was sold for our pets it must be safe for our pets. That was a reasonable thing to believe.
I fed my animals the same things you did for years. I cleaned my home with the same products. I did not start learning any of this until I had already lost pets I would have done absolutely anything to keep. Everything I know now I learned too late to help the ones who came before. If I spent my time feeling guilty about what I did not know back then I would never be able to do better now.
That is the whole point. We can only do better when we know better. And the moment you know better is not a moment for guilt. It is a moment for grace, and then for one small change, and then another.
Your pets do not need you to be perfect. They need you exactly as you are, doing the best you can with what you know, loving them the way you already do. The fact that you read this far means you care. That care is what matters most and it was never in question.
Start with one swap. Give yourself the same grace you would give a friend. And know that the love you have already given your animals counts for everything, regardless of what was in the bowl. 🌿
— Ashley
Find all my low tox pet product recommendations at low-tox-pet-essentials.carrd.co
I am not a veterinarian. Everything I share is based on personal experience and research. Always consult your vet before making changes to your pet’s diet, supplements or care routine.
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