If the catheter is closed off by a clamping device (our forceps #C10 or C12 are great for this!) they cannot urinate... even if they wanted to! And you can be sure... Insertion and removal are definitely highlights of this procedure!

As with all insertables, play safe and remember catheters must be played with only if they are sterilized, so we suggest getting a few, to be sure you're getting a sealed packaged catheter. 

Not quite ready for  an insertable catheter? Well, that's why the external  "Texas" catheters and the External Male Urinal Systems were invented! They make it so easy and simple... check them out and see if they may be your "bag", baby!

The earliest precursor to the present day Foley catheter is documented in 3000 B.C. It is believed that Egyptians used metal pipes to perform bladder catheterizations. As early as 400 B.C., hollow reeds and pipes were used in cadavers to study the form and function of cardiac valves.

In 1844, Claude Bernard inserted a mercury thermometer into the carotid artery of a horse and advanced it through the aortic valve into the left ventricle to measure blood temperature. It is because of his work that the use of catheters became the method of standard for physiologists in the study of cardiovascular blood flow. 

Adolph Fick took another major step in the development of cardiac catheterization in 1870. His famous note on the calculation of blood flow is the basis for today's cardiac procedures.

Among the earliest published descriptions of human catheterization were done by Fritz Bleichroeder, E. Unger, and W. Loeb in 1912. They were among the first to insert catheters into the blood vessels without x-ray visualization. Interest in catheterization was also stimulated with the advent of chemotherapy.

Early chemotherapy required the injection of drugs directly into the central circulation. Bleichroeder inserted catheters into dog arteries and assessed the effects after leaving them in place for several hours. He reported no complications or clots.

The Foley Catheter came into existence in the 1930s. Frederick E. B. Foley began to experiment with different catheters of the time. He realized that urinary catheters would easily slip out of the bladder because there was no way to hold them in place.

Foley experimented with different methods of securing the catheter until he came up with the idea of attaching a balloon-like device to the end of the catheter. The device would then be able to be placed and then inflated from the outside. By 1934, Foley catheters were on the market. Other than in material, the Foley catheter remains relatively unchanged in design today!

More info on catheters... click here!