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I have 7 of our cats buried in the yard, plus one of the neighbors' cats (it got hit by a car when her Mom was in the hospital; it was summertime, and I just couldn't let her pet get eaten by vultures). I also have the cremated remains of our last dog and one cat because the dog was too big for me to bury and the yard was flooded when the cat died (I had a spot ready for her but it was filled with water). Oddly enough, that dog and cat were best buds since we adopted them at the same time, so I will bury their cremain boxes in the same spot so they can still be together.
Check your city ordinances. Many locales prohibit burying animals in your yard. I always cremate and they will be scattered with me (will sleep with the fishes ).
I've heard lots of stories that when you get your pet's cremated remains it may not be your cat/dog but because they cremate many animals at the same time and you may get Rover + Fluffy + Max etc...
Our beloved cat of 19 years was put to sleep a few months ago. While I do not remember the exact cost it was something like like $150 for the euthanasia & a "group" cremation and $50 more dollars if we wanted a "private cremation". We choose to take the cat home & bury him on my brother's farm, in a flower patch next to the pond. It still cost $150.
As a retiree, I have had a few pets who died and was uncertain as to what to do ? Cremate them? Bury them somewhere? Find a pet cemetery?
My most beloved cat died in 1997. He was 19 and I buried him in my yard. (It was ok then to do so). But then I moved to another state so I dug him up and re buried him in my mother's garden. His sister passed so I buried her along side of the house where no one could see the gravesite.
Since then, I have cared for 3 other cats. Two were my kid's cats and one was, again, my very own beloved darling calico. She died a year ago and I now have 3 cats in boxes in my den. All cremated.
Here's the problem. I now have 2 elderly dogs. When they pass, what to do? I cannot keep cremating these pets and stacking them up in the closet. What do other retirees do? These pets were all rescues and were old, like me. I truly do not want to be cremated and kept in a box in the closet.
I wish there was a pet cemetery here. That would be a good solution. So what do you do?
The last cat I had to put down I chose the communal place for the ashes. I found out there is a part of a cemetery that is put aside for that. All the animals from whatever month have their spot.
I'm doing that with all of them from now on. The whole thing makes me crazy. My first one, my Dad buried her. The next one, I cremated and kept the ashes. Then I felt bad. I should have put her with the other cat! I feel like I can't win. Like I'm disrespecting one over another or something.
A friend says she always puts them in communal so they are not alone. I mean there is logic for every way. I think the communal is the cheapest next to burying in back yard and they don't care. It's all about our own emotions.
Like you, I don't want a bunch of boxes. I have my Mom's and one of my favorite cats and that is plenty.
I am not retired but I do have two elderly dogs that I am expecting will pass on relatively soon. I live in the city so I can't very well bury them in the back yard and I don't have a need to have their remains physically with me. My plan is to have them cremated and then plan to scatter their ashes in a state park where I know they can"run free" undisturbed and I can visit them any time.
I am not retired but I do have two elderly dogs that I am expecting will pass on relatively soon. I live in the city so I can't very well bury them in the back yard and I don't have a need to have their remains physically with me. My plan is to have them cremated and then plan to scatter their ashes in a state park where I know they can"run free" undisturbed and I can visit them any time.
That works too. I mentioned the communal for people who need to save money. I paid the extra for one cat but decided that was dumb of me. I might scatter her though. Under the bush where I found her. And get rid of the box, or clean it and put her collar in it. I even paid for the paw print. But now I don't like it because it was her dead paw. I think from now on if I want a paw print I should get it while they are alive!
The last cat I had to put down I chose the communal place for the ashes. I found out there is a part of a cemetery that is put aside for that. All the animals from whatever month have their spot.
I'm doing that with all of them from now on. The whole thing makes me crazy. My first one, my Dad buried her. The next one, I cremated and kept the ashes. Then I felt bad. I should have put her with the other cat! I feel like I can't win. Like I'm disrespecting one over another or something.
A friend says she always puts them in communal so they are not alone. I mean there is logic for every way. I think the communal is the cheapest next to burying in back yard and they don't care. It's all about our own emotions.
Like you, I don't want a bunch of boxes. I have my Mom's and one of my favorite cats and that is plenty.
I dithered over taking the ashes of our two or having them buried in the communal site. The cost for having individual cremations was high, but then there also were the nagging questions I had.
If we got their ashes, WHERE would we bury the ashes? They hated our new hometown, so I sure didn't feel like burying them there. OTOH, the communal site was in that general part of the state. But if we took their ashes I would worry about something ignominious happening to them, such as the container falling and spilling the ashes.
I wanted to have their ashes buried with us. But chances were that one of us would die at a different time than the other. So who would have what dog buried with him or her? If we each had one dog chosen ahead of time, I would forever feel like I was favoring one over the other.
We ended up having them cremated and joining their many canid (and felid and ????) pet fellows. I thought that at least in death, all animals including people become the same. Ashes. What mattered most was setting their spirits free, and I will always consider them our companions even though their bodies are not with us.
Since we moved out of that state, I feel a little regret in that we could have buried the ashes in the mountains they considered their real home. But then again, fetishizing an earthly repository would not make them any less "there" in my heart and mind. What happened, happened.
I am so glad I gave them celestial names, because literally every time I see their representations in the beautiful night sky here, they come alive for me.
Now I'm thinking about it again! The one cat all alone at my Dad's. Well, whatever pets of his he buried are there, but none others of mine. The second cat should have gone to keep her company. Or they should all be in communal. NONE of this makes ANY sense it is our own emotions. My cats are together in heaven. The one at my Dad's does not feel slighted that I didn't keep HER ashes.
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