One house ended up with two cats, a rat and several rabbits buried around the back yard–makes the trees grow very well. My daughter’s cat was killed last year and she asked if she could bury him in my yard, I figured he’d go around the side under the rhododendron bush or something, but when I got home that day they’d buried him right in front of my living room picture window. :smack: I’ve contemplated planting a rose bush over him but it’s entirely possible that area will end up a flagstoned terrace so maybe not. I’m a little worried about when my dog goes, because she’s huge and I’ll probably throw my back out burying her. On the other hand, if she or my fluffy cat die during their prime of coat, I might have them tanned and keep the skins around for warm fuzzies. Yeah, it’s a little weird, but they’re VERY fluffy… The dog could pass for a wolfskin rug easily. 
I’ve got to admit I laughed pretty hard at that.
If my recent experience is any guide, a local pet cemetery will put your pet in a casket, give you a short viewing, and bury your pet all for a sum that will absolutely make your head spin. The vet, on the other hand, will cremate it for a small amount. Even if you ask for an urn and keep the ashes, it won’t be very much. And there’s always backyard burial, although I think there are laws against it in some places. If you care, that is.
OK, this is sort of sick, but an elderly couple from Germany always send this box of German cookies every year for Christmas.
Nice looking tin box, eh?
We thought so too…and the cookies are quite good too.
So the first year we got them, we called to say thank you. I spoke to the woman and said, “the box is really beautiful.”
She said, “I know. We always get one too. I am saving this one as my cat is getting old and I will bury it in the box.”
Well, that did it for me. I looked at the nice box under the Christmas tree and thought, “kitty casket”.
I have sold every box at garage sales, and we have politely told them not to send them to us anymore as it is just too much to eat during the holidays…
My family has the luxury of living in a fairly rural area. On the other hand, for many years, we did a lot of foster animal care—mostly old, sick, or old & sick animals.
So, basically, there’s now a layer of doggie and kitty bones, about a foot down, under our far yard, garden area, and our bit of hillside. I figure I put a majority of them there, myself. In that silty, rocky, root-filled, redwood soil. Did I ever mention how many creatures I had to bury in a “nice spot” on that ivy-covered hill, seemingly always during summer? Most of whom I didn’t even know well?
We don’t do so much foster work, anymore. And we know a nice, reliable pet crematorium.
When our terrier died, we were living in Florida, and we buried him in the back yard with his leash and a dog cookie. Our recently deceased cat is in the back yard here in Maryland, and come spring, I think I’m going to plant some catnip over the spot.
I expect that our border collie mix, Bernie, will eventually have to be put down, unless she just dies in her sleep, but in either case, we’ll leave her to the vet. I don’t want any ashes, thanks. I just don’t want her to suffer at the end.
I have no idea what happened to our Dalmatian, Pixel. She slipped her harness one night, jumped the fence, and we never saw her again. In my happier fantasies, she found a family that loves her and she’s living happily with them. In reality, I think she took off into the wetlands that were behind our house, and a gator or other critter got her (this was also in FL) I just hope her end was quick and painless - she was a good dog.
We’ve got so many animals buried in our yard that we’re afraid we’ll forget where we put someone and dig it up when we go to bury another. So now we’re on the cremation train. My husband built a little shrine for a couple of our little pals. Photos, a shelf, little urns. It’s a little creepy, but it’s in the garage (Hot Rod Kitty is one of the cats on the shelf).
We also have a vet who will do a home euthanasia. We did it with Hot Rod, but it wasn’t very pleasant. She uses the two-shot method, and it was more stressful for our cat than the single shot we get at the vet. But if you have a large animal, it’s the way to go. They take it in their van, cremate it, and send the ashes back.
Our guniea pigs are always buried in the yard, but we haven’t had any for a couple of years.
As for our dogs, I’ll never do anything but cremation again. When our Lab died a few years ago, we buried him and severely misjudged the depth [it was in the middle of the night and raining]. I had to rebury him the next day when some strays dug him out. Not pretty. I had to put my Shepherd down a few months ago and had her cremated for about $75.00. Her ashes are on my bookshelf here in my office, and we’re going to incorporate them into the soil surrounding the rosebush she used to love to lay next to.
I’m not sure I buy this one. We are talking about a complete animal (not field dresses), which do contain the intestional bacteria. Actually I’m sure, I ain’t buying it at all. The risk may be very low to begin with but certainly a lot higher then a piece of beef fat.
I use the death of a pet as an excellent excuse to plant a tree. I doubt I’d go out and <i>buy</i> a tree specifically for this purpose, but I’ve always had saplings-in-pots on hand when my last couple of cats have died.
When one of our cats abandoned her kittens, I opted for cremation… just because I didn’t like the idea of a mass grave in my backyard.
In every town I’ve lived in throwing carcasses of pets in the trash was against the rules. I’m sure the trash guys don’t check for these things, but it is stated and a law abiding citizen wouldn’t do that.
If I had a smallish pet and none of my own land to bury it on I’d probably just ask a friend if I could bury it on theirs.
Larger pets get cremated at the vet.
I have buried mice, budgies, fish(!) and yabbies (I know…) in backyards. Our cats were both cremated at the vet’s after being put down.
This was kind of a scary thread to notice you had started Prehensile Rectum, after noticing no updates in your other thread.
Any news on your cat? Please update!
My mother had our old mutt cremated and she spent months searching hi and low for a suitable container to bury his ashes in. She finally found an antique dog bone tin. He was buried up on the hill next to all the other animals. The worst thing I think I’ve ever had to do was when I had to put one of our cats down, cancer in her mouth, fed her and when she tried to eat (canned food) all her teeth started to splinter and fall out of her mouth, she damn near clawed her eye out. While waiting for a ride to the vet, I dug her grave with her sitting next to me and watching, very wierd, very wierd in that it was sad and wierd in that she was extremely anti social until she got old and sick, 14 years of a cat with absolutely no personality, and then when she started getting cool, she dies.
Cats I have buried. When my dogs died or were put down, I had them cremated. It’s just too darned rocky here to dig far enough down to bury them. I’m one of the sort that thinks that once they die, their spirit is gone. I don’t place a lot of sentiment with their bodies, even those of humans. When my mare died she was buried on the property.
StG
I cry. My whole family cries. We cry some more. We put her toys and things away. We cry again.
We bury her–or cremate her. I’m not sure which, it’s up to Mum to decide. But her ashes will be scattered (or she’ll be buried) in a quiet, peaceful place, hopefully somewhere nearby us.
We cry a few more times. We maybe adopt another dog. And we try, in a fashion, to get on with life again.
And if anybody throws my dog in the trash after she’s died, I will personally go Midnighter on their ass.
We have a “memorial tree”. Though honestly, we bury the pets there so we don’t forget where they are. Digging one up by accident would be not fun. 2 dogs, 2 ferrets, and a few cats are burried around this big tree, then rocks are placed over their spots, again for the not accidentally digging them up thing.
I’m surprised I’m the first to post this: I let the vet dispose of my cat.
My cat was 18 years old when she had to be put to sleep last summer, but I’m a renter so burying her in the yard was not an option (imagine trying to get my security deposit back!), and I had no desire to have her ashes. My vet said that as part of the euthanization she would dispose of the remains, so that’s what I chose. I had a great vet, who made house calls, and she came out and put Smokey to sleep in my living room. I wasn’t holding her when she died (they offered, but I didn’t want to), but I was petting her and talking to her.
I thought the hardest thing I’d ever have to do was watch my cat die, but I was wrong: the hardest thing was watching the vet carry her body out of my house, all wrapped up in the towel that the vet had brought. I watched them go down the sidewalk and get into the vet’s van, and had a brief moment of the purest grief I’ve ever felt (yes, I’ve had a lucky life so far).
I don’t regret my decision. I have her picture in a frame in the living room, and that’s enough of a memorial for me.
I wasn’t clear about it, but that’s what we let the vet do with our dog as well. Burying her in the yard, even if it was legal, seemed unnecessary and it definitely would’ve been a lot of work. We had our pictures and we kept her collar and her bed pad.
My childhood dogs, Puppy and Happy, were buried under a a tree in the little woods behind the house. I still have Puppy’s collar. Cheyenne was cremated and Dad didn’t get her ashes back. I have her collar as well.
I had to have my Bobbie girl put down (cancer) and I had her cremated. The vet returned her ashes to me in a lovely wooden box with a paw embossed on the top. It’s in my living room. I’ve got her collar as well.
When Joplin goes, he’ll be cremated. I live in the city and it’s technically against the law to bury animals in the backyard. For small animals, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but my dogs are Labs and I wouldn’t want to have to dig a hole that big.