We have so many animals buried on our property, it’s really a Pet Cemetery. It’s getting to be a challenge to find a spot that someone hasn’t already taken. The last two were cremated, and I think we may decide to go that route from now on. We built a little shelf for the ashes. It’s not that expensive a process, either. I think we paid $150.
I haven’t had to face this yet as an adult- we had to have pets put down when I was still living with my parents, but it was always their decision (even though that didn’t make me miss them less). We buried those pets in the tree grove in the back yard- my parents have since moved to a smaller place, but one of my sisters lives there now.
We have 2 cats, 12-yr old Midnight, who was my husband's cat before we got married. and Phoebe, who is my little tabby girl, she is a little over 18. It will be my husband's decision what to do with Midnight- but I plan to have Phoebe cremated and put her ashes in a nice container.
We also have Auggie, The Cutest Dog on the Planet (TM), our only (so far) mutually acquired pet. He is about 18 months old (they are all rescues, so the ages are the vet's best guess), so hopefully we won't be faced with that decision for a long, long time. I like the idea of creamation, because I like the idea of being able to take them if we move.
This thread has me all sad now. As soon as I get hoem tonight, all of my babies are getting extra hugs and treats!How do you say goodbye? However you like. But expect to grieve; for many of us, it’s the same as losing a member of your family.
It’s not easy to lose a pet. I’ve watched as a few of ours slipped away in the vet’s office; one was within the last month, in fact. In each case, we said goodbye as gently and as lovingly as we could. Then the vet did his or her thing, and our little friend went away.
I’ve also had the disturbing experience of finding one of ours on the lawn, after being hit by a car. It was many years ago.
I’ve preferred, where I’m able, to bury our friends. It hasn’t always been possible–for example, when I was a child, I had very little influence on my parents’ decision for cremation of our dog and cat. But in both the case of Minnie, who was hit by a car, and Frisco who recently succumbed to heart failure, I was able to bury the remains. Minnie is in the yard of a house I used to live in, and Frisco is in a quiet corner of a field on the farm where he was born.
Guy Montag is correct when he (she?) says that remains are all they are. I’m convinced that the spirits of all our friends are elsewhere–perhaps at Rainbow Bridge, perhaps somewhere else. But they go on to someplace else, I’m sure; and I hope–I hope–that when my time comes, I’ll find them waiting for me.
Would that be Auggie Doggy? 
It’s an old cartoon that you probably don’t know! I am sorry the thread made you sad, katie, but I’m happy that you love your pets. I think the world needs more people like you.
Q
Actually, Quasi, that’s exactly who we named him after! He’s a Jack Russell / Australian Shepard mix (again, the vet’s best guess), and he’s white with black patches. “Auggie” just suited him- you know how it is when you come up with the perfect name for your pet! I love it when I tell people his name and they say “Oh, Auggie Doggy and Doggy Daddy!” That only happens if they’re my age or older, though!
That’s mah Boy dat said dat!
Used to love those cartoons, hon!
Quasi
This is about Marlena…a mutt…she wasn’t MY dog though I fed her and took care of her…she wasn’t even really my Dads’ dog…he was more HER human…she followed him everywhere
If he was doing fieldwork she would be out there with him…all day no matter how hot it was…munching on field mice that were disturbed during his work going round and round with him
She would sleep in the alley of the barn while we milked…never more than 15 feet from us and only moving every 20 minutes or so as we moved down the lines of cows(we were dairy farmers)
Then my Dad died
Marlena was as upset as I was…she would follow ME everywhere thinking I would lead her to my Dad…during milking she would come in one end of the barn all excited thinking she’d find my Dad…she would go up the alley between the cows then in front of one row then the other row…she would then make a circuit around the farm before coming back in the barn to check for him again…she did this twice a milking both morning and afternoon each everyday
After a week I noticed she was coming into the barn very slowly…like she was just going through the motions not really expecting to find “her human” anymore
Ten days after my dad died I got up at 4am to milk and she was lying by my bedroom door all curled up like she was sleeping… she wasn’t…she had passed away during the night…she was only nine years old and in perfect health
This was in the wintertime and the only place possible to bury her was by a vent on the barn(cows throw off alot of heat even in the winter)…the ground beneath it was the only unfrozen spot on the farm
Over the years we had many “pets” growing up and it was always hard to lose them but this was by far the worst
When I lost my first pet as an adult, we already knew that we would not be permitted to bury him on our property. The other choices were individual cremation, mass cremation (wherein the ashes are taken and dumped at the landfill), and burial at a pet cemetery in the southern part of the city. We opted for individual cremation, with the ashes returned to us (ironically the pet crematory is located on a road named Happy St., about a mile away from the house we lived in at the time).
At first we were going to spread Roman’s ashes at the field near the house he loved so, but I too found myself unable to part with his ashes, so we got a lovely urn made with his picture on top. When the time comes, I too will be cremated and his ashes will be added to mine. I haven’t decided whether we’ll be buried or whether our ashes will be scattered somewhere, but whatever the decision we come to about that, we’ll always be together. Our Rob Roy, and the two still living dogs will be included in this - Rob will probably go with me and JC with my husband. Don’t know about Idol yet.
Interestingly, in the area where we now live, it is possible that we could be buried on our own property, so maybe we’ll look into that. We could bury the dogs’ ashes at any time and then follow with ours. But that might remind me too much of The House Dog’s Grave (tissue alert for anyone who hasn’t read this poem).
Quasi, you are very smart to consider the situation now while your mind is clear. It’s always a good idea to plan ahead for these sorts of things - and also to think about the circumstances under which you would consider euthanasia too. When the time comes, it can be very hard to think rationally so the more you have thought things out ahead of time the better. We should do this more often with our human loved ones too. No one likes to think about death, but all too often a human loved one dies and then the family realizes that no one has any idea of what the burial/cremation/funeral wishes of that person are. I have seen that cause considerable grief, guilt and regret on the part of those left behind to make the decisions.
I hope I won’t have to think about this subject for many years (the oldest of my three beloved cats is only 3) but because I’m like that, I have thought about it. One of the things I’ve considered doing is this. Some people I’ve talked to have told me that they consider the LifeGem morbid, but I don’t. I think it would be a very nice way to get something precious out of something even more precious, when a pet can’t be with you anymore.
I don’t know if I’ll do it–it’s very expensive, for one thing, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford it–but hopefully I’ll have a very long time to think about it before the sad time comes.
It is so hard to say good-bye - we had to put our beloved, magnificant Doberman down almost two years ago. He was 10, very large for his breed - and when the day came that he couldn’t pull himself up on the hardwood floor to a standing position, I knew the time had come. I scheduled the vet appointment, and we had a truly scary few minutes when we almost couldn’t lift him into the back of the SUV (he was 140 lbs.) All I could do at the vet was rub his nose and whisper “I love you, Lord Vader.” I couldn’t stand to be there, so my husband held him as he ran toward the Happy Hunting Grounds.
I had lost several pets as a child, but nothing in those experiences prepared me for a situation in which I would have to tell my boys Vader wasn’t coming back. My 4-yr old didn’t comprehend what had happened, but my 6-yr old knew immediately when I told him, “honey, Vader isn’t coming home.”
We didn’t opt for cremation, but I put up a small shrine in our home with his picture and a few mementos. It was near Christmas of 2001, and my mother gave me a beautiful ornament of a Doberman with wings. That ornament will always hang on our Christmas tree in his honor.