For a long, healthy life! ANIMAL WELLNESS AnimalWELLNESS Living TOP pawsitive! 5STEPS for optimal immunity When his body RAW BONES ATTACKS itself – How to pick the RIGHT A look at autoimmunity ones for your dog Animal shelters that are making a Allergies – tips and tactics for DIFFERENCE stopping the ITCH When to BeccaThis Glee star plays Tobin the part of NOT a bully, but in real life, this avid VACCINATE animal lover is anything but. Hip, cool and healthy! feline WELLNESS COOL canine IT’S SO ITCHY! Get to the ROOT of feline HIKING GEAR SKIN ALLERGIES CarrieThe Dancing With Ann the Stars Inabajudge is APRIL/MAY also passionate about cats Display until May 20, 2013 $5.95 USA/Canada Strollers for CATS ALLERGIC to kitty? DON’T PANIC – there’s no need to get rid of him! AnimalWellnessMagazine.com BONUS FELINE SECTION feline wellness 65 VOLUME 15 ISSUE 2 NOW INSIDE! BeccaBy Amberly Scott Hindler TOBIN Becca This Glee star may play the part of a bully, but in real life she’s anything but. An avid animal lover and dog guardian, Becca is also an active anti-bullying spokeswoman. IF YOU WATCH GLEE, you know that actress Becca Tobin a dog to cuddle with in bed would be the perfect remedy. “Bonnie plays a high school bully named Kitty Wilde. Some actors may slept with me every night until I left for college,” Becca reminisces. resemble the characters they play on television, but Becca, a lifelong animal lover and anti-bullying spokeswoman, is a very A Bichon was the perfect choice for Becca, who is allergic to dogs different person from her on-screen alter ego. and therefore can only live with hypoallergenic breeds. Today, she shares her life with a Maltese named Sophie. Becca chose a She knows that bullies often start out by abusing and hurting Maltese because in addition to being hypoallergenic, the breed animals. “Bullying helpless animals is one of the most disgraceful is also “alert, smart and in touch with the owner’s emotions,” acts I can think of,” she says. “Everything about people hurting Becca says. “Any time I’m sad, she knows it and gives me extra animals is despicable.” cuddles and kisses.” Becca’s passion for protecting both animals and people faced helpless animals is one of the with perennial, relentless abuse led her to become a spokesperson Bullying for Bullyville.com, a non-profit organization devoted to inspiring most acts I can think of. victims of bullying while at the same time forcing bullies to take disgraceful accountability for their actions. On the site, she has shared her Becca and Sophie have been best friends ever since the little own personal account of being bullied as a teenager, and has dog entered her life as an eight-week-old pup seven years ago. received many positive responses from both children and adults Though Sophie only weighs ten pounds, she enjoys long hikes who struggled at one time or another with bullies. (Becca isn’t in Fryman Canyon in the Hollywood Hills. “She runs around the only celebrity who knows what it feels like to be a victim like a wild animal, completely oblivious to the fact that she is of bullying – other stars who have shared stories on the website small, white and fluffy,” Becca says. of their personal plights with bullies include comedic actor Paul Rudd and Dr. Drew Pinsky.) The duo often travels together too, regularly visiting Becca’s grandparents in Atlanta, a trip that Sophie loves particularly Her canine companions well. “It means lots of attention and millions of treats!” And Becca’s affinity for animals began at age three when her parents the actress and her small furry companion never let a sunny brought home a Bichon Frise puppy named Bonnie. As a toddler, weekend slip by without visiting a beach. “As soon as the sand Becca was scared to sleep alone at night, and her parents knew that hits her paws she goes crazy,” Becca laughs. 32 animal wellness Dashing through the white sands of Southern California like a the tumor and the lymph node closest to it. Currently, Sophie is maniac is not Sophie’s only quirk. “She hates goodbyes,” says scheduled for radiation to dissolve any lingering cancerous cells. Becca. “When I have visitors over and hug them goodbye, she yelps really loudly like she’s begging them to stay.” The little Cancer is often unavoidable as dogs grow older, but Becca says Maltese also has a habit of climbing up onto the bathroom her veterinarian is glad she is doing everything in her power to sink and drinking running water from the faucet – a habit that, keep Sophie healthy at this fragile time in her life, including her according to Becca, is “slightly out of control!” diligence about a balanced diet. “A healthy intake is crucial,” Becca says. She and her veterinarian are hopeful that with continued Advocate for holistic healing good food, veterinary care and Becca and Sophie are more than best friends and playmates. holistic supplements, Sophie’s The actress cares for Sophie as any doting mother would care cancer will soon be a distant for a child, and ensures that Sophie always eats nutritiously. An memory, and the pair will be advocate for holistic healing and remedies, Becca gave Sophie a back to exploring the hiking food and treat makeover not long ago. “I have switched Sophie trails and beaches around Los Beccafrom an all-kibble diet to mixing in organic boiled chicken with Angeles in no time. an all-natural (grain-free) dog food,” she explains. “All her treats are also all natural. I pour a little glucosamine on top of her food While caring for Sophie, Becca to keep her joints healthy as she gets older.” Becca adds that continues to appear on Glee Sophie’s greatest joy in life is probably chicken, and that her little and do what she can to raise companion is completely satisfied with the changes to her diet. awareness of the devastating effects of bullying on people This healthy diet proved helpful when Sophie’s groomer recently and animals. Her on-screen discovered a lump on Sophie’s leg. Worried, Becca immediately persona might be mean and An advocate for holistic healing and remedies, Becca recently gave took her friend to the vet’s office. Sophie was diagnosed as having manipulative, but the real-life Sophie a food and treat makeover. a grade 2 mast cell tumor. The veterinarian surgically removed woman has a heart of gold! Reproduced with permission from Animal Wellness Magazine. animal wellness 33.