Ticks are easiest to catch in the twenty minutes before they attach. They wander the coat looking for thin skin, and a stroke with a textured mitt lifts them off while they are still moving. Doing it as part of the after-walk fuss also means you end up checking your dog or cat every single day, rather than discovering a swollen tick behind an ear on Saturday morning.

The mitt is microfibre across the palm and fingers, so it works the way your hand already does. You can feel a lump, a scab or a tick through it, which a brush will never let you do, and you keep full control around the face, ears and belly. It picks up loose hair, dust and dried mud at the same time, so a wipe-down after a muddy walk keeps most of the field out of the house.

• Soft microfibre surface across the palm and fingers
• Lifts loose hair, dust and dried dirt as you stroke
• No chemicals, powders or treatments involved
• Machine washable inside the mesh bag supplied
• Five colours: green, orange, pink, blue and yellow
• Suits cats and dogs, short coats and long

What it will not do. A mitt cannot remove a tick that has already bitten and attached, and dragging at one leaves the mouthparts behind in the skin. For an attached tick you need a proper tick hook and a steady twist. This is not a flea treatment either. It will wipe fleas off the surface of the coat, but an infestation lives in your carpets and needs a vet-recommended product to clear.

Who it's for: Owners walking in long grass, woodland or fields who want a daily tick check that their pet actually enjoys sitting through.