Removing Ticks

And now for something off the beaten track…

I got home late from racquetball last night and on the way, I called the Wife to see how the evening with the kids went. No problems, but she informed me that the cat had 2 ticks on him- one on the chin, the other on his neck. The cat was outside then, but she was hoping I’d take care of it.

I didn’t. At least, not when I got home.

When I got up this morning, both kids started in on me as well. “The cat has ticks you have to remove Dad” or some variation thereof. I finally got around to it tonight after he came back in for the night.

If you’ve ever coated a tick in vaseline or butter or simply pulled the sucker out with a tweezer, allow me to inform you there’s a really simple, pain free (for the pet) and mess free way to remove the tick. Using a pair of tweezers, turn the tick counter-clockwise while gently pulling. If you’re fingers are deft enough, use those instead of the tweezers. That’s it. It might take 2 or 3 revolutions before it comes off and it will do so without tearing apart and leaving its head in the animal. In fact, it will be quite alive. My usual method of disposal is to flush them, although the pair from tonight went in the fireplace.

Your semi-useful piece of trivia for the day.