What do you do with your pets' ashes?

[SkipHiLad4me]

We had one of our dogs cremated last summer. It was the first time I’ve ever had a pet cremated and I must say that while it was more expensive to do so, the extra cost was totally worth not having to dig a cold, dark hole to put their little bodies in :no: We definitely did not want to bury her at our house as we knew it wasn’t a place we would be staying long term… and it wouldn’t feel right to leave her behind.

So DH and I will be moving to our land in the next year or so after our house is built and I would not be surprised if by then we had a second little urn sitting on our bookshelf, as one of our other dogs is quite aged. I also feel that we will choose to cremate our dogs’ bodies from now on, and since we will always have dogs, I worry that it will be quite morbid at some point to have numerous little urns sitting around the house

I’m curious… what do you choose to do with the ashes/urns from your beloved pets?

[DarkenStormy]

We have only had one dog pass since my husband and I have beem together. At that time we were in an apt - and I didn’t want to scatter his ashes, so I bought a pretty urn and it sits next to my bed on the table.

They have some really nice boxes and memorials for cremains.

[Superminion]

My parents just put down our family dog a few weeks ago. We split his ashes up and sprinkled them in his favorite places, like the lake, the field behind their house, and along the route that they would take every morning on their walks.

[Bacardi1]

While the dogs & cats that have passed here on the farm are buried here - with tree/shrub markers, our Doberman that passed back in NY in the early '90’s was cremated.

A friend who was into woodworking made me a lovely hand-carved almost-seamless wooden box where her ashes reside. You wouldn’t know its true purpose unless you asked.

[2Jakes]

My old cat, Tucker, who was one of my first (of many!) bottle babies, is in a handsome wooden box. For the first year after his passing that box adorned places where he wanted to lay but wasn’t really allowed (on top of the fridge, in the guest room, etc). Now the box is on a bookshelf with my old Aussie. She is in gift box. I haven’t found just the right place to spread their ashes yet, both originated in VA and I haven’t been back there since they died. Maybe once I move to my property on the Ocala Forest I will find the right spot there…maybe along my favorite trails…that’s where I want to be when the time comes.

[MsM]

Funny, but I am not at all sentimental about the remains. I did not ask for my dog’s ashes. I like to remember them when they were alive and healthy. Having an urn or a spot in the ground only leads me to gruesome thoughts.

Even when my beloved mom passed, her ashes were returned and I just scattered them in the ocean that she loved.

[Bacardi1]

I don’t find it morbid when there’s a garden over them.

Except for our one Doberman’s ashes from back in NY, the rest of our pets are buried here at the farm.

“Rosie”, our deaf Blue Dobie, is buried with a Pink Dogwood over her grave. Every Spring when it’s completely covered in pink blooms makes me smile.

“SweetyBird”, our Quaker Parrot, is buried with a “Louisa” Weeping Crabapple over her grave. Again - every Spring it’s breathtaking.

“Bruno”, our Plott Hound/Lab cross has a Variegated Kousa Dogwood on his grave. Lovely.

And all of the cats have their own special places with Azaleas & a birdbath over each spot.

We do have two other dog graves for our last Dobie & our Husky awaiting plantings. I want a “Bonfire” ornamental peach for the Dobie, & a dward Red-Twig Dogwood for the Husky. This Fall or next Spring.

[ET_s_Home]

We lost our 15 yr old English setter back in April. Her ashes are enshrined on the mantle and probably will be until SO himself has past. He even still has the cards sent by the vet clinic and crematorium, and numerous pics surrounding her tin.:sadsmile: The tin is pretty nice. He did super-glue the top on. When I asked why the glue, he mumbled something about not wanting to see ‘bits of bone’.

[laurel3644]

My last two dogs ashes are in nice wooden pet urns that I ordered. I then got ceramic statues that look like them, one a corgi and one a golden retriever. I have them on my dresser. Every time I see them I remember all the good times with them.

[scierra]

I have four of my past dogs with me now in the plastic containers they were returned in. One of them is only partial due to scattering some of her in my old yard, and sending some to OK to be with a friend Dobe who has since passed away. They are buried side by side with river rock markers. I’m still deciding where to scatter the ashes here of the rest of the pack. I do take a small amount out, table spoon?, and give it to a friend who does glass work. She made me a pyramid with some of my first Bull Mastiff’s ashes and is working on my Bob’s glass memorial.

Other than little tributes like the pyramids, I’m not overly sentimental with the cremains. They are just remnants of my past companions and the memories are what really matter.

[Laurierace]

I have only cremated one. He sat next to my bed on the floor (where he would have been if he were alive) for one year to the day then I sprinkled him around the flower bed he helped me put in. I still have the now empty plastic container next to my bed…

[LavenderFarm]

I’ve had two dogs cremated - a Doberman and a very special little JRT/Chi mix. Billie Holiday (Dobie) was my best girl in the whole wide world, and that is part of the inscription on her urn. Cosmo was my precious angel … and his brass plate says that. Both urns rest on a dresser in my bedroom and I often just put my cheek against the urns and it gives me great peace and wonderful memories.

Other pets are buried … not sure what made me do one or the other. It’s really a personal thing at such times. But I think there is a limit to the number of urns I should have around and be considered even somewhat sane.

[czgm7r]

Last year when my gelding passed my barn friends gave me flowers to plant. The plan for me is to create a memory garden beside my house. I will put the ashes there, create stepping stones to memorialize all that have passed and then plant the flowers there. Hopefully the work on the house will be finished next spring and it will happen then. I don’t want workers trampling in garden.

[danceronice]

My parents had our first dog privately cremated (paid extra to ensure that it was JUST him-a lot of times if you don’t specify and pay for it, it’s a mass cremation) so that they could take him up and bury him on our farm, instead of in our yard at the suburban house where he was put down. All our other animals including the horse are buried intact. The person we bought the land from had buried a dog on the hill above the corral and made a headstone for her, so we’ve just kept going. (I have a laundry list of hangups about cremains and really hate them, like made my parents put the box in the garage while I home, so I prefer to just bury things.)

[Resilient]

I believe all of ours are buried at a local pet cemetery. My family has always found it difficult/odd to have ashes around the house and burying the animal is out of the question (city zoning rules) and so we go in and stay with them while they’re put down and then the vet clinic will cremate the animal and they’re brought to a pet cemetery.

[Seriously_Hunter]

I have my Rottie’s ashes in a gorgeous wooden box that sat on my night stand with a photo of her and a statue of a Rottie. It has her name and her nickname “The Moose” (she only ever got her real name when she was in trouble! lol) her date of birth and date of death on a small golden plaque .

However, when I moved across the country (I wasn’t sure if it was to be an extended vacation or a permanent thing) I left her with a really close friend. Next time I go back home, I’ll be bringing her back with me. I don’t know that she’ll go back on my night stand or somewhere else but she’ll always be with me.

I do worry that I’ll end up that crazy person with a ton of pet urns that someone else needs to figure out what to do with when I die!

[Peggy]

Is anyone else thinking David Sedaris? Specifically Youth in Asia. Irreverent but funny.

[JoZ]

I have a nice box with a cat head on it, where the ashes of three cats reside.

I make the decision at the moment, as to whether or not I want cremation or just to have the veterinary hospital dispose of the body. I can’t say for sure what goes into the decision – some of it definitely is the relationship with the animal and the length of time he or she was with me. On the face of it, it seems a bit weird that I don’t have the same plan for all pets but so far I haven’t regretted or over-thought the decision.

I like the container because I want to be able to take them with me. My first horse is buried at the farm I board/live on, and it will be weird to leave him when I move from here. I can see not wanting to have a collection of urns but a few nice boxes will fit in just fine.

Funny side story – my dad’s ashes are in a LOVELY sundial. That has never left my mom’s house. I guess none of us want dad any further away than the living room. If folks think an indoor sundial is weird, they’ve never said anything…

[Simbalism]

My three cats are buried in the garden my best one under my bedroom window. My last two dogs were cremated, the first one I would have buried in the yard, but it was summer and the ground was like cement. When my last dog died I had her cremated because she was my heart dog, always with me. Their ashes are in little urns on my dresser. My current dog will probably also be creamated as she has turned into a heart dog as well. Always with me, fun to be around. The one horse I owned that died is buried at the farm where I used to board.

[red_mares]

There is a collection of plain brass square cans on my parents’ bookshelves.

I called home when I was at boot camp. Mom asked me “do you know where Muffin is?” Uh, on the book shelf. Mom " I could find her, and thought you might have taken her with you.":eek: