How to Remove Ticks from Humans & Pets

Most chemical solutions or soaps will hinder tick removal. There is an exception.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Marvel Mystery Oil and possibly a comb.

1. Do not try another method of tick removal first and then try this one. Wounded ticks or those exposed to most typical chemicals or soaps will not likely be able to release their bite. Removing a dead tick, with jaws frozen shut, may require a comb or tweezers and force that could cause a little of the patients flesh to have to be pulled out with the tick and may cause minute bleeding.

2. Get a pint or quart of Mystery Oil (it comes in a red can) at auto parts stores and other places where oil supplies or sold. Apply the oil directly to the ticks and surrounding areas of skin. Give the ticks 5 to 10 seconds to get drunk from skin penetration. Move the ticks back and forth slowly and gently. (You can use your fingers, with a glove on if you prefer, or a cue tip). Perhaps this tires their jaw muscles. When you sense, they've released their bite, pull them out slowly. (If the head of a tick and enough of its body is left in the victim, the tick may grow back to full size or cause itching for days).

3. Large and stubborn ticks may require additional Mystery Oil to get them to relax their bite. It may take a full minute to get a stubborn tick out.

4. After you've discovered one or more ticks in a pet's fur, you may need to pour some Mystery Oil into your hand before you approach an animal. (Some pets, especially cats, have a tendency to run when they see you coming at them with a container). Rub the Mystery Oil into their fur with your fingers in the area you discovered ticks.

5. When digging a relaxed tick out of a long haired furry animal use a comb. A fine toothed comb may be necessary for small ticks.

6. Check for ticks in the inner ear of animals. Bleeding ears is probably an indication a pet has been hopelessly trying to scratch away ticks.

7. Mystery oil will not aid in the removal of a tick that is already dead. However, it appears to work very well to prevent infection in these cases.

8. Get your anti flea and tick medications for animals from a veterinarian, a pet or feed store, the kind you apply to the back of a pet' s neck. They're usually good for about 3 or 4 months. Read the directions carefully. (3 month medications are generally for pets at least 3 to 6 months old). Once or twice a year is likely enough applications in most climates. In winter months they are probably unnecessary.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't get in too big a hurry, the Mystery Oil method should never leave the head of a tick in the victim. If heads of ticks have been left in a victim, for whatever reason, Glycerin oil may remedy the situation. However, peroxide may be less painful for a pet than glycerin.
• Mystery Oil, like baby oil, is less painful to skin than peroxide.
• Average tick removal time is about 10 seconds and the tick may be dead in about one minute, but not always. Don't let them get away to bite again.
• Do not conclude the 3 month anti flea and tick medications for animals do not work, just because you tried brand X, that didn't work.
• Do not apply any chemical to a tick prior to applying Mystery Oil. The wrong soap, lotion, or even a watered down chemical may kill or paralyze a tick, leaving it with clamped jaws and stuck in the victim.

Resources

• Get Rid of Head Lice in 5 Minutes
• Stop the Pain & Itch of Mosquito Bite & Ant Bites
• Get Fleas Out of Your Bed Room
• Get Rid of Dead Animal Smells

[jillmaria]

on 8/19/2009 Loved the comment about pets running when they see you coming with a container!!

[cliasays]

on 8/5/2009 Nice JOb!

[QuackJack]

on 7/7/2008 To the best of my knowledge two of the main ingredients of Marvel Mystery Oil are mineral oil and Dichlorobenzene. According to Toxicology Data Network of The United States National Library of Medicine http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+95-50-1
Dichlorobenzene - Exposures of high concentration may result in depression of CNS although this material is but weakly anesthetic. Mineral oil is the main ingredient of baby oil. I don't believe ticks are agitated when Mystery Oil is applied. I believe it relaxes the tick and its bite, making it easier to pull them out. I've removed possibly as many as twenty ticks from an ear of a cat in less than two minutes total time. No other medications were used and the cat recovered fully with no more itching, scratching, or infection.

[DoubleThis]

on 7/7/2008 Applying any oils or alcohols only agitate the tick. BrianH is right, when a tick is agitated, it'll inject its stomach contents back into its host, presenting bacterias and possible diseases from previous hosts into its present victim making this a dangerous situation.

[QuackJack]

on 6/26/2008 I said one minute. Why did you choose too exaggerate and say a few minutes? Further more, what is one more minute when a tick that's been sucking blood for a few hours or a few days has been discovered? I have never seen even one infection occur after using mystery oil for tick removal. It appears you want people to draw that conclusion, so they'll go spend a lot more money to get the same job done. You also want to conclude that when referring to a head of a tick left in the flesh that its neck as well as the entire body was cut off. If that is the case, itching will prevail with no regrowth and I'm not going to take time out of my life to research how much of a tick can be scratched off without regrowth.