The following is from a telephone interview:

HOANA: You have 13 cats and 3 dogs. Can you tell us about the dogs first?

Mary: Bambi is sort of like a mixed whippet and she's fifteen. And then there is Fox. We got her at a pound and she looks like one of those little Eskimo dogs, but she's mixed. And there's Sheba, also from the pound. She's a golden lab about two years old.

HOANA: ...you say the bark came back on your older dog?

Mary: Yes! It’s the weirdest thing as I was telling my oil man. In fact she saved our home. We have this finished basement and she was barking and the water was coming out of our pipes everywhere all over the basement. I mean, she saved us from a real disaster.

HOANA: Before this, she couldn’t bark?

Mary: She could not bark. Telling this to the oil man, he said, “What kind of a dog is it?” And I said “vegetarian.” And he just looked at me. To me it’s the only thing different. She didn’t bark for two years. She wasn’t eating vegetarian before, just the canned dog food.

HOANA: What recipe do you use for the dogs?

Mary: Well, they’ll eat them all. Mainly I make them tofu with rice because that seems to be easier. I use Minute Rice and add carrots. I’ll tell you, though, my dogs, really, I had no problems with them. I had a problem when they were eating dog food. My husband would get down on the floor and pretend he was going to eat it. That’s how much they hated dog food. And my husband’s so happy that he doesn’t have to play any games. In fact, they can hear me mixing the food and they’re waiting for it.

HOANA: Did I miss anything?

Mary: If only you could just see these animals and feel the texture of their fur. I think you should put that in because it’s very important. Their fur doesn’t fall out like it used to. It’s thicker! It’s summer now, and the cats are in the house. It’s amazing. I can’t say enough about it and I tell everybody. I’m so grateful.