Create a Pet Memorial - With or Without Ashes

Losing a pet can be as traumatic as the loss of a family member, because they are one.  We share our daily life with them, their love is unconditional, and we form a deep relationship that, when removed, can cause devastating grief.

It can be comforting to create a memorial to our beloved friend, and this can take the form of an urn that contains the cremation ashes ... or not.  Many families choose to either bury their pet, or scatter the cremains, or simply not to receive the ashes back from the crematory.  In the absence of ashes, a memorial may be comprised of a vessel to contain mementos, rather than ashes.

When I lost my cat Pickle, who had been my close and consistent companion for 21 years, I was inconsolable.  I had been with her in her last moments of euthanasia to relieve her of the pain and illness from which she was not going to recover.  Her vet took care of the cremation details, and I did not want her ashes back.  I decided instead to make a memorial for her with one of my spheres - I chose a small green iridescent one, because the colour reminded me of her eyes.  In it I placed her tags, a small bag of catnip, and a sprig of eucalyptus because she was attracted to the smell, and the way she could play hockey with it - whenever I clipped a bit from a floral arrangement for her, she would play with it for days, batting it around the floor endlessly.  I took the brass disc closure to my jeweler to be engraved:  "Piccolo, aka The Pickle ... We'll Miss You, Little One".

Memorial to Piccolo, aka The Pickle

My husband and I had a very brief but hugely meaningful little funeral ceremony for her under her favourite climbing tree - which she couldn't climb any longer in her later years, but she loved to sit in its shade and taunt the squirrels above her.  We each held her sphere memorial in our hands and in turn said a few words to bid her goodbye and thank her for all the years she'd been with me, and later with both of us. That little memorial service helped me immensely as I began the process of coping with my grief.  

Pickle's memorial sphere sits on a shelf in our kitchen, near a window.  Sometimes now, since I've managed to get through losing her, I pick up her sphere and just hold it and smile, remembering what a great cat she was.  And what a wonderful presence she had been in my life.  

In case it's helpful, if and when you may need to cope with the loss of a pet, whether a cat or dog, hamster or horse, I'd like to offer a discount promo code: enter MYPET during checkout for 10% off your order in either of my two web stores.  Creating a memorial to your pet can provide some comfort as you and your family begin to process your grief, and over time this permanent memorial will provide a loving reminder of the life they shared with you. 

If you're in Canada, visit www.cremationurnsbylegacy.ca.  
Or, if in the US, go to www.cremation-urns-legacy.com.  
Free ground shipping is included with every order to anywhere in Canada or the USA.

Barbara Bergen is owner and designer at Cremation Urns by Legacy, an online store offering cremation urns, keepsakes, cremation jewellery, and pet urns since 2006.