Tips for getting ticks off your pets this summer
(FOX 2) - This week on Jill of All Trades, Jill Washburn shows us safe and simple tricks for removing ticks from your pets or yourself.
While many people's "go-to" is a pair of tweezers, Jill says that's not really the best bet. If a tick is carrying disease, squeezing it with tweezers can force some of that into you or your pet. Ideally, you want to remove the tick without squeezing it.
Enter the Tick Key. This great little tool is available at pet stores and on-line, and Jill swears by it. It easily grabs the tick and removes the whole thing quickly. Plus, it hangs onto the tick, once it's removed!
Jill says it's easily worth the few dollars' investment, if you have pets that tend to pick up ticks. It also works for ticks on people!
If you don't have a tick key, you can kind of make your own by taking an old credit card or gift card and cutting a narrow, v-shaped notch in one edge. You can, then, use the notch to scoop under the tick, trap it, and remove it.
If you don't want to pull the tick, or you're a fan of essential oils, you have another option.
Dip a Q-tip in peppermint essential oil and dab it directly on the tick. Then, draw a circle of oil around it with the swab. Within several seconds, maybe even up to a minute, the tick will let go, pull out, and try to escape.
Jill tried this method on her small dog, and the tick let go and tried to run away.
The biggest challenge with this method is catching the tick and disposing of it. If you do lose the tick, though, don't worry. Jill says that the oil killed the tick that was on her dog.
The only drawback with the oil method is that dogs noses are so sensitive that the peppermint oil can be irritating for them. Jill recommends taking a wet cloth and washing away the excess oil after the tick is gone. Jill also says that, because of the irritation factor, she would not use this method on a dog's face or head.
There you have it! Three simple methods for quick and easy tick removal. All of them will work on humans, too.
To watch Jill take you through the options, click on the video player above.
PROJECT RATING: Super Easy