While cremation is most commonly associated with humans, many crematoriums can also cremate your family pet after it passes away. Whether the animal dies at home of natural causes or you need to have the pet put down at the vet's office, you can then take the animal's body to the crematorium to have it cremated. Afterward, you can pick up the remains in an urn and decide exactly how you'll proceed. Unlike when a family member is cremated and you have to respect his or her wishes about dealing with the remains, you can decide exactly what you want to do with your pet's remains. Here are some options.

Display Them In An Urn

When you pick up your pet's cremated remains, they'll typically be given to you in a no-frills urn. However, you can buy a nicer urn for display and opt to keep it in a place of prominence in your home. Pet urns are available in several styles, and many of them can be engraved. If doing so interests you, you can have the urn engraved with your pet's name and perhaps its dates of birth and death, as well as a short statement such as "Gone but not forgotten." You can then place the urn on your mantle or elsewhere in your home where you can see it regularly.

Scatter Them

You may wish to scatter the pet's cremated remains, and there's perhaps no better spot to do so than in your yard. This is especially true if your pet enjoyed being outside. For example, if you have a dog that spent much of the summer out in the yard lounging in the sun, scattering the ashes in your yard is a logical choice. Alternatively, you may wish to scatter them elsewhere that held a special significance. For example, if you often took a pet to a local beach to play fetch with a stick, this is an area that you may wish to consider.

Bury Them

Some pet owners opt to place their pet's cremated remains in a simple box and bury it in the yard as an alternative to keeping the remains inside the home or scattering them. You can select a special spot in the yard such as an area next to the garden or a spot beneath a large tree that your pet enjoyed relaxing under. You may choose to leave the area unmarked or, alternatively, you could have a small memorial stone engraved and place it in the earth. 

Share