Members of the cast of “The 101 Dalmatians Musical,” which is playing at Wharton Center, walked across the street with one of their dalmatians Thursday to discuss working with the animals and tour MSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

“I started e-mailing back and forth with the company and they seemed excited to take a break from their busy day,” said hospital director Pat LeBlanc, who led the cast through the facilities.

“We tried to get a similar thing with the (cast of) ‘Cats’ when they were here about four years ago. There aren’t any real cats in the play though, … but that didn’t end up working out. This is really the first time we’ve done something like this.”

With one of the show’s dalmatians at her feet, trainer Jessica Schiffhauer described the process of choosing the show’s 15 dogs from a pool of 300 applicants and the 100 days of rehearsing before the show.

“Dalmatians are very hyperactive and get bored very easily,” Schiffhauer said. “(People said,) ‘Dalmatians aren’t smart, they can’t do anything, you guys are going to struggle.’ … You learn how boring you are really fast.”

Michael Thomas Holmes, who plays the villianous Jasper in the show, said he gets the best of both worlds with cats at home and dogs at work.

“We have cats, so we come home and you have your cats,” he said. “But you get to go the theatre and have your dogs, even though we don’t always get to play because they have a job to do and we have a job to do.”

Cast members described backstage life walking in the 15-inch stilts they wear for the show and interacting with dogs they say have become like family.

“It seems absolutely natural for people to be 7-feet tall and to talk to dogs,” said Kirsten Beth Williams, who plays Mrs. Dearly.

“We forget about halfway through the week how strange we must look. We’re reminded of it at the beginning of each week because the crew is standing there looking at us like, ‘You’re really tall.’”

Veterinary technician Chris Phipps said although she was unable to attend the show, she wanted to attend the event to hear what the trainers had to say.

“It’s fascinating to listen to them talk and see how they interact,” Phipps said.

Holmes and Williams spoke of the comfort of bringing their own cats on the show’s tour, which typically takes them to a new city each week.

“It’s so humanizing to be able to come home to your animals every day because we are in a different place every week, and you forget that you have a real life back in New York City or in Los Angeles or wherever you live,” Williams said.

“It’s really a wonderful thing to come home and have something else that you have to be responsible for.”