When my childhood cat, Ginger, died, I was about 18 or so. She died, unfortunately, while I was away for the weekend, so I came home to find a really, most sincerely dead and stiff cat in my closet. I was rather ooged out, and I first put her into an unbleached canvas tote bag so I didn’t have to look at her any more.
I took her out to the sad, exhausted looking patch of rhubarb by the side of the house. We hadn’t really used it for years, because it was rather depleted soil and what was left was sad and scraggly, but we’d never been able to get rid of it completely. My plan was to kill two birds, so to speak - bury the cat and in doing so dig out the last of the rhubarb. I dug a hole also, oddly enough, about 3 feet deep. I put her, bag and all, in the hole, along with her favorite 'nip mouse and a penny near, if not in, her mouth (what can I say, I was into Greek mythology.)
Mom told me to sprinkle some lye in on top of the bag, to prevent…uh…odors. It must have worked, or she was just down deep enough. We never smelled anything, and nothing disturbed her grave. Filled in the hole with the dirt and, true to legend, it didn’t fill it all the way in; there was a little sinkhole left.
Some rather spectacular rhubarb grew from that spot, however. 15 years later, it’s still the biggest rhubarb I’ve ever seen. Ever since, I add a little ginger to my rhubarb pies in tribute, since the rhubarb is made of Ginger. :eek:
My Grandfather’s place was where we always took our dead pets. He had a big backyard, so we buried everything in the garden. There’s several dogs, some cats, a Mynah bird that talked, and my son’s rabbit, that died as a result of having plastic dishes in his cage.
Back when my grandfather was trying to corner the market on fresh eggs, one of his laying hens unexpectedly croaked. I tried to bury it out back, but the patch of ground I was digging in was mostly gravel, so I couldn’t dig a very deep hole.
The chicken’s feet were sticking out when I finished filling the hole up, so I informed the neighborhood kids that I was growing chickens, and they always grew feet first.
It’s kind of nice to hear I’m not the only one who hasn’t gotten another cat or more yet…one friend of mine was ready to bring over 2 kittens a month after Libby, the 2nd one, passed on, and I told her I wasn’t ready yet…that was almost 2 yrs ago now…
The post about the dog buried on its back with his paws up in the air actually made me laugh - and I’ve buried three dogs in my backyard.
Each was buried with their favorite toy, a dog biscuit and a blanket. They all had the loving good grace to die when it wasn’t winter, so digging the holes were fairly easy. One was an average-sized shepherd, one was a very large retriever/lab mix and the other was a small terrier. I put large flat rocks down mainly as a marker, but also as a partial deterrent.
I’ve never had an issue with scavenger animals or any disinterrments.
100 bucks in Michigan for cremation and an urn. Beagle size. I buried a cat in the side yard once. If it were in the back yard the beagles would dig it no matter how deep it went .
Our family pets kept giving us litters, practically one every 18 months. In all this time there were at least one or two deaths per litter. Oddly enough, in the largest litter of 12, all twelve survived(including my dog Fred ). So our back yard is littered with graves even if you discount the puppies “reclaimed” by their mother. :eek: No adult dogs though, they were claimed by the ASCPA. :o
I’ve put a couple of cats in the earth - in the corner of a veggie patch, good and deep. I dug a couple of postholes a few years later - oops, kitty bones.
No big deal, and the earth was full of bones anyhow, from the compost heap. I’m not very sentimental.
In my backyard we have three cats, four guinea pigs, a rabbit, a hermit crab, countless fish, mice and birds killed by the cats, and probably some other stuff. I always wonder if whoever lives in this house after us will find them.
What would you do if you bought a new house, dug up the yard to make a garden, and found animal bones (that were obviously those of a pet)? I would try to disturb them as little as possible.
I’ve had several cats in my family’s possession die over the years, but, in each case but one (and, in that case, we never found most of the body), we have had burial arrangements made by attendant veterinarians, and, as a result, none of them are buried in the backyard.
We’ve buried three cats in my parent’s yard. Our first cat, Elmo, was placed in a large shoe box and buried in the side yard. Petunia died while I was away at college, and George died after I moved away from home, so I don’t know the specifics of their internments, but both of them are buried in the back yard. We’re in the middle of suburbia, so scavengers have never been a problem. Still, I put a cement paver over Elmo’s grave as a deterrant to any disturbances.
As for legalities, “don’t ask, don’t tell” is definitely the way to go. I think it’s technically illegal around here, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting into trouble for it. And I’d hate to be the prosecutor or judge who actually punished such an incident. His opponent would crucify him in the next election.
I currently live in an apartment, and if I had to deal with a dead pet (I don’t have any pets at the moment, but theoretically) I’d probably ask mom and dad if I could use their yard. If that wouldn’t work for some reason, I’d try my brother’s house. Failing that, I’d ask the vet to cremate it. No way I’d toss it into the dumpster.
Thank you all so much for the information. I will make sure we go at least 3 feet down, and pick an area that would not likely ever be dug up, even if we moved.
Since I am somewhat allergic to cats, one of the few places in the house he has never been allowed is on my pillow. Once he figured out that was where I didn’t want him, that was his favorite place. He would howl when I would shut the bedroom door, not letting him have access. So I think it might be fitting to use one of my pillow cases to wrap him in for his final resting place.
I am glad to have this all discussed and decided. It makes it easier knowing we have a plan. And now we can just concentrate on making his last bit of time with us as pleasant as possible.
And I think the dog will join us. She is bound to be more curious if she knows we are doing something in the yard without her, so maybe by being there she will have less interest in the spot.
Thanks again. And I hope this doesn’t sound too macabre, but I did enjoy reading the stories.
See, this is why I bury my animals in other yards, to use those people as a buffer between me and the hungry zombie pets.
The fuzzy black land shark who lives in my house is ten years old this year. He’s starting to get a very light frosting of white tips. So the topic of the thread has been on my mind. In the end, I’ll probably opt for cremation, and a little urn of some kind.
Just wanted to add that my ex reminded me (yeah, we talk about SD) that you don’t want to wrap the lil’ critter in plastic. Cotton fibers - like a sheet or something - would be best.
Years ago, we have an aquarium that “died” because of sick feeder guppies. Every fish in the tank died, include a really large knife fish we called Blade. DeHusband said he’d take care of it and, not wanting to deal with dead fishies, I let him. Imagine my surprise the next morning when I opened the freezer to find Blade’s body. There was screaming. It wasn’t pretty. (DeHusband was going to take the dead fish to the dealer to prove something or other.)
Fast forward to last December when, on a Wednesday, my cat died in the vet’s office. DeHusband offered to bury her in the yard… on the weekend. I don’t think he understands the steadfast rule of No Pets In The Freezer.
I feel sorry for the next homeowners. We buried the last pet right under the waterline coming in the front garden.
My previous cat died at the end of a long, unusually cold winter. I went out back to one of her favorite spots in the yard with a pickaxe and took a few experimental swings. The ground was like cast iron and all I was doing was hurting my hands. So she spent the next month or so in my freezer wrapped in one of my old wool shirts and I buried her in the spring when the ground had thawed.
I’d guess I went down at least three feet, and no problem with scavengers.
). So our back yard is littered with graves even if you discount the puppies “reclaimed” by their mother. :eek: No adult dogs though, they were claimed by the ASCPA. :o