35 mils thick and is reinforced with a cut out 14 about 20 25 mils thick and positioned on the inside of the dome the cut out 14 has a cruciform shape which defines four elements 15 spaced equally around the interior of the hemisphere dome the central area 16 of the cut out is continuous and the dome reinforcement in this central area is about 40 60 mils thick the cut out 14 may be formed integrally while being insert molded or it may be formed separately and then attached to the dome by heat or adhesive sealing sonic bonding etc it will be appreciated that the cruciform shape of the cut out 14 is not critical and the cut out may assume various shapes such as elliptical rectangular triangular asterism striated etc provided it enables collapse of the hemisphere dome from the periphery to the central area 16 during removal of the gastrostomy device as shown in fig4 and 5 a portion 11a of the catheter extends beyond the patient and will engage a closure member not shown which when opened connects to a feeding port this type of arrangement is well known in the art if desired the external portion of the catheter can be.