When a Pet Dies - Pet Cremation Services

Learn Options for Cremating Pets, Urns for Pets, Cremation Jewelry

Apr 10, 2009
Mia Carter

The Beach - A Place to Scatter a Pet's Ashes - Leskzn/Stock.Xchng

Those grieving a pet loss can opt to cremate a pet instead of burying the remains. Learn how much it costs to cremate a pet, cremation options, and more.

For many, the experience of grieving the death of a pet can be comparable to the experience of grieving a human's death. And like those mourning a human's death, a bereaved pet owner is also faced with decisions on how to handle the pet's remains.

Following the loss of a pet, owners are faced with two options: burial or cremation. This article will explore the cremation options that are available for dogs, cats and other pets.

Pet Cremation Services for Dogs and Cats

Pet cremation services are available through virtually every veterinary clinic. If a pet owner decides to euthanize a sick or elderly pet, the animal's remains are typically left behind after the pet is "put to sleep."

For pets who pass away at home, pet owners can opt to bring the remains to the crematorium facility on their own or they can opt to bring their pet's remains to the veterinary clinic. There, the pet's body will be placed inside a freezer to await collection by the pet cremation service. Some pet crematories will even collect the pet's remains from the owner's home.

Grieving pet owners will need to select one of three options when opting to cremate a pet:

Private/Individual pet cremation - The pet's remains are cremated privately and the ashes are returned to the pet owner. This pet cremation service usually costs approximately $300.
Group pet cremation - Several pets will be cremated at once, but the ashes are typically kept separate. The ashes are returned to the owner. This second pet cremation option is less expensive, typically costing between $150-$250.
Combined pet cremation - Several pets will be cremated at once and the ashes combined. The ashes are not returned to the owner. Instead, the ashes are scattered, typically at a memorial park-type area at a nearby pet cemetery. This option is generally the least expensive, costing between $50-$150.

Pet Cremation Urns

Once a pet is cremated and the ashes are returned, the pet owner must decide what to do with the pet's remains: scatter the ashes, keep the ashes in a pet urn or bury the pet's ashes.

Pet stores and pet websites offer a vast array of urns for dogs, cats and other pets. Pet owners can pick from ornate glass vase urns, even marble urns, bearing engraved nameplates or poems. Pet urns are available custom-painted with an image of the dog's likeness. Wooden box urns are also popular; many wooden box-style pet urns include a spot for a photograph of the beloved pet.

Cat and dog cremation urns can range in price from less than $50 for a small personalized wooden pet urn to several thousand dollars for a large, high-end handmade marble urn.

Scattering a Pet's Ashes Following Cremation

Pet owners may also opt to scatter some or all of a pet's ashes, perhaps on a peaceful section of beach, a favorite forest trail, or at the dog's favorite spot in the yard.

When scattering a pet's ashes, pet owners should seek a place that the pet enjoyed or a peaceful location where the grieving owner may go when he/she wants to remember the pet, such as a garden planted in memory of the pet. Gardens are especially popular choices, since the pet's ashes are absorbed into the soil; the pet's remains literally give rise to life as the garden's plants grow.

Many pet cemeteries offer pet memorial parks where pet owners can spread a pet's ashes. Owners may also choose to bury their pet's ashes in a pet cemetery plot, complete with headstone or grave marker.

Pet Gems and Pet Cremation Jewelry

When a pet dies, many grieving pet owners are compelled to keep their pet close. Pet gems and pet cremation jewelry make this possible.

For about $350, pet gem companies can process gemstones that integrate the pet's remains. Just a couple teaspoons of the animal's ashes are needed to create a one-of-a-kind pet gem that's as unique as the pet that is forever memorialized in the stone. The gemstone can then be set into a ring, necklace or other jewelry item.

For between $2,500-$13,000, the carbon that once inhabited in a beloved cat, dog, horse or other pet can be compressed and heated to form a diamond. An animal lover who has cremated multiple pets over the years could use ashes from multiple animals to create the diamond.

And then there's pet cremation jewelry: Tiny urns in the form of a pendant, brooch or even rings that enable pet owners to carry the cremated remains of a dog, cat, or other pet close to the heart. Some glass artists can even integrate a pet's ashes into dichromatic glass jewelry.