Kelly Hemostatic Forceps, Straight, 5.5"

Kelly hemostats with a straight jaw, 5.5 inch, stainless steel.

A hemostat locks. Squeeze the handles and a ratchet holds them shut until you deliberately release them, so they grip something and give you your hands back. That is the reason a pair lives in every whelping kit.

Straight Or Curved, 5.5 Or 6.25

Straight goes in on the same line as your hand and suits general work in the open - a cord, a nail, gauze. Curved lets you come at something from an angle, which is what you want inside an ear or at the back of a mouth.

Length is about control against reach. At 5.5 inch these are finer and shorter than the 6.25 inch Crile pattern, which makes them better for delicate close work and worse for reaching. Breeders who use them a lot end up owning both lengths in both jaws, because each one is obviously right for something.

What A Breeder Actually Does With Them

Clamping an umbilical cord before cutting it. Clamp an inch or so from the puppy's belly, cut on the far side, and the clamp holds the end.

Holding styptic powder on a quicked nail. Quicking a nail means cutting it short enough to hit the quick - the living centre carrying the blood supply. It bleeds far more than it should and it stings, so the dog stops helping. A locked grip holds the powder for the half minute it needs.

Pulling a tick. Grip at the head where it is attached, not around the body, and pull straight out without twisting.

Clamping a feeding tube so milk does not run back down it while you refill the syringe.

Holding gauze to clean a wound, keeping your fingers out of it.

Pulling a splinter, a thorn or a grass seed from a paw.

Stainless steel means autoclave, boiler or disinfectant soak between litters. Bought once, these outlast most of the kennel.