# What did you do with the remains of your last deceased pet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425 "2011-04-15T01:10:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BaconAndEggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@BaconAndEggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaconAndEggs)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/81 "2011-08-08T06:40:28Z")
My cat, Green Eyes, died last November, after a long bout with a brain tumor/oral cancer. I kept her alive 2 months by syringe feeding her baby food, and water, and waking up all the time to put her in the litter box. She finally got down to 2-3 pounds after being 12 pounds. She went blind/deaf in the last month, and couldn’t walk. I finally put her down after agonizing/ and crying every night while I fed her. I didn’t want to “kill” her. I kept trying to get my nerve up to call the vet. I even wished she would just go peacefully in her sleep. I never had to put an animal down before, and I even had a mental breakdown over it. She was my best cat. She was 15 and a half. I cut a lot of fur off her and put it in a Ziploc bag. I even kept her teeth from a previous dental surgery. I paid $75 for the euthanasia, and $25 for a communal ash burial. I don’t think I could go through that mess again, and I have 2 other cats. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/82 "2011-08-09T00:44:11Z")
Inividual cremation, ashes returned. I store the ashes in a container that has some meaning for me. For instance, my 2nd cat’s ashes reside in a silk covered Japanese tea tin that was given to me as a ‘thank you’ for taking his cat for 2 weeks while he went home to Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/83 "2011-08-09T01:28:16Z")
My last deceased pet was a fish so…nothing special really, scooped out of the tank and sent to the landfill. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/84 "2011-08-09T01:50:20Z")
I let the vet dispose of the body. Nerdy as it is, my view of dead bodies comes from TNG Klingons: The body is an empty shell; it’s occupant has gone. Dispose of it efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/85 "2011-08-09T02:31:21Z")
My family has always home buried pets. So my cats have gone in the back yard, two so far, and on small dog. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/86 "2011-08-09T17:27:46Z")
At-home burial. But my folks live in the country, so it was pretty easy. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/87 "2011-08-09T23:04:53Z")
(Cats) Always cremation, loose cremains buried in yard. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/88 "2011-08-10T02:22:26Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Just out of curiosity, what could a person expect to pay for a pet cremation? Interesting. Despite the fact that the deaths were expected due to age/ilness, I was so emotional-numb-stupefied that I can’t remember what it cost. I just handed over my credit hard in a daze. The vet could have paid her kid’s entire college tuition with the charge and I probably would have just nooded, “Yes, that’s fine.” ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/89 "2011-08-10T02:36:43Z")
I learned at an early age (farm kid) that the physical body is just a shell - so all animals I’ve owned/fostered/cared for that die in my care get the basic “group cremation” or whatever the chespest vet option is. By now I’ve seen the passing of so many animals - and lived in so many different places - the remains would have long become meaningless and far attenuated both physically and mentally from my current place in life. I have no particular attachment to physical remains of dead family members. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/90 "2011-09-04T17:18:13Z")
We have the ashes of from our beloved Oops, the sweetest tabby that ever lived. I still think a big part of me died the day I put her down after 20 wonderful years. I’m choked up now, and it’s been six years. Whenever I set up my glass beadmaking setup again, I will put some of her ashes into a special lampworked bead to keep near my heart. God, I loved that little girl. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/91 "2011-09-04T17:34:28Z")
Jake was euthanized at home - vet made a house call, since the poor old fellow was so terrified of his visits to the doggie doctor. Mom and the doctor and I sat on the floor, crying while the shots took effect. Mom and I then drove out to the family farm and buried him next to Sara the Dalmation and Luke the Peke/Lab (?!) and Baggy the iguana and D.C. (Damn Cat.) Jake has a marker that reads “Jake 1993-2009 Damned Good Dog.” ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/92 "2011-09-04T21:03:41Z")
My rats get mass-buried about every three months (we do necropsies on all deceased breeding stock, then they go in the freezer until it’s time to dig a hole) - it’s not that I don’t love the little buggers, but as a rat breeder, I lose probably 2-3 a month so it stings less and keeping memorial keepsakes would get ridiculous very quickly. My dogs and cats have each been cremated, and I have received the ashes back, as well as my first bunny. The ashes are individually sealed, and the containers are stored in a very nice little wooden box. When I’m cremated, I’ve asked that the ashes of my pets be mingled with mine before we get planted in the roots of a new sapling. When my heart dog died, I took a pinch of his ashes and sealed them in a prayer box necklace ([http://www.prayerboxes.net/](http://www.prayerboxes.net/)) and I keep it with me. There’s no religious reason, I just miss him. ---
**Author:** ![VitrolicBump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@VitrolicBump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VitrolicBump)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425/93 "2011-09-04T23:06:35Z")
Group cremation through the vet’s office. We figured she would be a dust collector and we wanted to remember her but still be able to let her go. It was easiest and least expensive. Well, or we could have buried her under a tree in our yard. Don’t think that would have been liked by the city though. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-with-the-remains-of-your-last-deceased-pet/578425.md?page=4)