For Disers who have had beloved pets cremated

[Spoonful of Sugar]

What did you do with the ashes when you got them back? Keep them, sprinkle them somewhere special? My wonderful kitty of 18 years passed away last night, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with the ashes. We brought her to the vet today and will be getting the ashes back next week. A part of me wants to hang onto them, but I don't want them to turn into something that just sits in the back of the closet or up in the attic and loses significance. Any thoughts?

(By the way, while I am very sad that she's gone, I am so happy to report that she went peacefully and we didn't have to make that difficult decision to have her put down. She went on her own after only a day of seeming very near the end. It was all I could have hoped for.)

 

[disneystacy]

My mom keeps her cats ashes on her nighstand in a beautiful box. All her kids were instructed to bury the ashes with her when she died.

 

[browneyes106]

A friend of mine had her dog creamated. She buried the ashes in her yard and put some plaque over the spot.

 

[Art 1]

Ours came back in a small very nicely finished cedar box that is nailed shut. There is a small engraved plaque with her name on the box. It sits in a special place in our home. On top of the box is a small round piece of ceramic with her paw print that the clinic took before she was put to sleep.

We lost her a few months ago.

 

[java]

We have Harry's ashes in the Living Room. The room he was never allowed in when he was alive.

We had planned on burying them- but it just didn't seem right to me. You'll know what you want to do when you get them.

 

[Tink888]

I kept my dog's ashes in a keepsake wooden box on top of our entertainment center. The box has a slot with a photo of him on the top and I also have a poem in there too.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

[jam217]

I have the kitty's in a cedar box on my nightstand. The vet also gave me a little plaster cast of her paw.

The dog's box is in the family room.

 

[C.Ann]

I'm so sorry about your kitty.. It's awful to lose a pet..

My sister had 2 ferrets and caring for them was probably the only thing that kept her going after her DH passed away very, very suddenly in 2006 of a pulmonary embolism..

Since that time, her 2 original "babies" have passed on and she had them cremated.. In both cases, she purchased pretty containers and she has them in her home.. I'm sure they weren't terribly expensive (on a very tight income), but I've seen one of them and it's very, very nice.. Perhaps you would be interested in something like that?

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Over the years we have had 4 dogs cremated. We buried each one in the backyard and planted a tree over the spot. This started with the first dog when the kids were only 5 and 3. The idea came from the book The Tenth Good Thing About Barney which the vet loaned us to help the kids deal with the loss.

 

[Meriweather]

So sorry for your loss.

I keep my baby's ashes in a box that looks like 2 little books....her picture is one it and her birth-death dates...and name. It sits by my computer so I can still see her and I do still talk to her.

 

[tammymacb]

My Keena is home with me...

 

[PatsGirl]

I spread my sweet doggies (17 year old Golden) ashes between my yard, my neighbors yard (who insisted they were half owners), and the pond where I always found her when she ran off so I figured it was her favorite place. I miss her so much still and its been 13 years

 

[sunnyday123]

When I picked up my lab, she was in a pretty damask type box-and it was almost the same color as her,a very light cream color. It's on my nightstand.

 

[HappyGilmore]

I am so sorry for your loss. We have two Jack Russell Terriers who currently are 15 3/4 and 14 1/2 years old. Our oldest we got 6 months before we were married and she was our first family pet. She is getting very old - terrible breath/teeth, a few lumps on her body, bad knees in both rear legs, and recently we took her to a specialist vet as she has a red spot on her eyeball that they think is cancerous. She is still fiesty and eats well despite all the above but I know she won't be with us too much longer. I hope that she goes peacefully when it is her time. We are so thankful for the many years of love she has given to us.

Just replace the word dog with cat :


He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." -- Author Unknown.

 

[CanadianPaco]

A friend of mine had her dog creamated. She buried the ashes in her yard and put some plaque over the spot.

This is what we did with our lab who passed away at 13 yrs.

 

[Disneylover79]

When my beautiful Nala passed away I had her cremated. I wanted to put her in a beautiful jar, so I went to a local poetry store and picked out a ceramic jar and painted it my self with a picture of Nala from the Lion King on the top of the lid. I think painted the rest of the jar pink because my girls necklace was pink. I then took it to my vet who transferred her ashes into the jar and I brought it home.. I put her in the end table (with a door that closes) where she can see all that goes on. I then bought 2 stuffed Nala toys and put them around her, I put her favorite toy in the jar with her, and her necklace around the top...I love it because everyday I get to see my little girl....I miss her so much and cry every time I talk to her ashes....I am so sorry to hear of your kitties passing...

 

[WDWBarb]

Bunny's ashes are in a nice box we purchased - we keep her in the family room where we spend most of our time. At first the whole cremation thing freaked me out (I couldn't even look at the box!) but I adjusted over time.

 

[brianheather]

Ours too came in a nice box. We have it on a shelf with a framed picture of him. I could never get rid of them.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I wrote a note , laminated it and then stuck it in the container the ashes had come in. The note explained that these were the ashes of Tigger and that DH and I wanted him buried between us. DH and I went out to the site where we will eventually be buried (it's a family cemetery and we know which two plots will be ours) and dug a hole and put them there. My parents and siblings know about our Tigger's ashes as well.

When it comes time to plant us, I'm sure the box with his ashes will turn up - we want it re-buried in the middle of us. That's where he used to like to sleep in life, so he can sleep between us in death until we're all dust again.

 

[Spoonful of Sugar]

Thank you all for your kind words and wonderful ideas. I love that some are being buried with or near their pets. We rent our home, so burying her in the yard isn't an option. After reading all these posts, I think I will probably keep the ashes, but I won't make a decision until I get them and see how I feel then. I know that they come back in an urn, but if it's not very nice, I may buy something special. (The cremation itself already cost over $300 though!) It's wonderful to hear about all the ways people have honoured their pets.