End of Life Decisions and Ways to Memorialize Your Pet

There are so many thoughts swirling through your brain when you approach the final days of your pet being on the Earthly plane and directly after, as you adjust to the change in your daily life.

Understanding your options ahead of time is a good idea so that you are ready to answer the questions and not be blindsided and stressed with unexpected choices while you are saying goodbye and grieving. You can take a look at the form we’ll ask you to fill out either ahead of time or at the time of your appointment by clicking here.

1. Choices for Bringing Home Physical Remains

In my experience, most people choose cremation at the end of their pets’ lives. In very specific circumstances, you could bring them home and take care of the remains yourself, but if your pet was euthanized, it may not be legal.

What do I choose for my pet’s remains?

1. Communal cremation – your pet is cremated along with the remains of other pets. This is a good option, and the least expensive, if you aren’t trying to get ashes back.
2. Individual Cremation – in which your pet is placed in its own box, separate from other animals, but there is no cover and so there may be intermingling of some of the ashes. This is the second least expensive option.
3. Solitary Cremation – where your pet is the only one going through the process and there will be no cross-contamination with other pets. This is the most expensive option.
4. Bringing home the body – if your pet died naturally, you could consider burying them. If your pet was euthanized, it’s not legal to bury them because the euthanasia solution is a controlled substance that could contaminate the soil, or hurt or kill other animals that might dig it up.

What type of container would you like to hold your pet’s ashes? You can choose anything from a sweet and simple wooden box to a ceramic urn with a pet’s information painted on the side.

• Pikes Peak Vet creates the beautiful basics.

When we are there for you at the end, we can create a pawprint impression in clay that you can take home and decorate, then bake for a lasting tribute. We can also create a lock bottle with a lock of your pet’s fur or take a nose impression.

• Create a memorial from things you own.

There are many ways to do this. I’ve seen shadowboxes with a collar or favorite toy mounted next to a pawprint, a lock of fur and photos. I’ve seen a water bowl wrapped with a pet’s collar and made into a succulent planter. The point is, do something to acknowledge their presence in your life, not their absence.

• Write a poem, a song or words of love.

Finding creative expression at this time of loss can connect you to your pet in a really special way that’s like nothing else. You can also write a tribute to your pet on Lap of Love’s website. It helps you remember the happy and maybe crazy times you had together and allows your brain to “chew on” something other than the actual passing that just happened.

• Use a photo or ashes to create a physical reminder.

The number of ways to memorialize a pet are myriad. They include: lucite cubes with a suspended picture, ashes swirled into a glass pendant or even made into a diamond; a pet portrait. I’ve even seen puzzles and SOCKS printed with a pet photograph.

These are all very individual choices and by no means is this everything that’s out there. There’s no one right choice for everyone. Being prepared so that you can make the right choice for you and your pet is always the best way to proceed.