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“Balancing” work and life can feel impossible for working parents. Emily Singer, VMD, writes that instead of trying to balance work with life, flexibility and self-care are better goals.

In anticipation of Monday’s total solar eclipse, the big news for clients is that the eclipse likely won’t be any news at all to their pets.

We’ve entered the peak moving season in the US. On average, more than 40 million people move each year in the United States, with an estimated 80% of those moves occurring between April and September. And, according to an oft-quoted study on pet relinquishment at US animal shelters, the number one reason pet owners give for relinquishing pets is moving (7%). Does that mean we’ve also entered the peak season for pet relinquishment?

If we want to save seabirds, banning plastic straws alone won’t cut it. We need to ban plastic balloons. A recent study of more than 1,700 dead seabirds showed that the deaths of more than 25% were linked to eating plastic.

Usually, scientists discover cures for human health conditions by testing them on animals. This time, it’s the other way around. In a refreshing change of pace, a veterinary cardiologist and her colleagues have discovered a way to cure a rare but life-threatening heart arrhythmia in dogs by adapting a treatment pioneered in humans.

If you know someone who’s thinking of gifting a pet for the holidays and you’ve educated them on the four rules for gifting someone a dog or cat (which include checking with the giftee first to see if they’re up for a 10- to 20-year commitment), make sure to educate them on the best place to buy the pet, too. Shelters, rescues, and reputable breeders are good places to look. Cyber Monday sales are not.

Researchers at a Canadian university used 3D printing technology to replace the majority of a dog’s cancer-ridden skull. The patient, a nine-year-old dachshund named Patches, had a tumor that had grown so large it was weighing down her head, growing into her skull, and pushing dangerously close to her brain and eye socket. The procedure is thought to be the first of its kind in North America.

There’s a new tick in town, and nobody’s sure how it got here. A team of researchers at Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) Center for Veterinary Health Sciences has confirmed the existence of an exotic species of tick in the United States. The particular tick they examined was found on a dog in Arkansas.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating a potential link between heart disease in dogs and the consumption of pet food containing peas, among other vegetables. Martine Hartogensis, DVM, deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine’s Office of Surveillance and Compliance, called the reports “highly unusual” because they’re occurring in breeds with no genetic predisposition to DCM.

Fifteen percent of unused human medication gets flushed down the toilet. But only about 8% of pet medications get flushed. So, are veterinarians doing a better job of educating their clients on how to properly dispose of unused medication than physicians? Maybe, but it’s still not good enough.