Last week Berrigan, the big dog (who at 80 lbs is about 20 lbs *too* big), went to the vet because he was scratching his right ear as if there was a winning PowerBall ticket buried in it that needed to be dug out. Turns out he had a yeast infection in his ear. As one site describes: “An ear canal with a fermenting vat of skin bacteria and ear wax then attracts yeast spores to germinate. This whole process is very irritating to the ear canals which become thickened, puffy, and ever more productive.” Yummy.

He has both an ointment and a pill that need to be applied/taken twice a day. The pill is not chewable so it must be put in something he will swallow whole. Although there are many foodstuffs – and more than a few non-edible items – that fall into this category, his favorite seems to be Whipped Philadelphia Cream Cheese. A big enough gob of that and he’d probably swallow a salt shaker. Of course, once the other dogs smell food (they can be upstairs under the covers sound asleep and the aroma of any vaguely food-like material will rouse them) they have to partake in the cream cheese festival.

Now, I prefer my cream cheese softened, not whipped, so I don’t use the doggie tub on my bagels. But do you think I should have let the other family members know that I have, on occasion, double- and triple-dipped into the whipped variety to give the doggies a taste? Naw, I didn’t think so.