# When your pet dies - what do you do?



## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

What do you do when your favorite, faithful pet dies? If you have the land to bury them, do you? Do you say anything or make anything of it, or just "dispose" of them and be done with it? Do you take them to some out of the way place and leave them for whatever? I'm very sad today.

Jenny


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## mesa123 (Jan 15, 2009)

If you have the land to bury your pet, then by all means do it. Burying our dead is very therapeutic. It makes the death seem final and putting your pet to rest is good for your own well-being. We have a special area that is sort of out of the way, a corner of a field under some trees. We pass by it occasionally and see the markers where are pets are and its always a good thing to remember our departed pets. 

I just dig a deep hole, lay the pet in and cover him up. Bury it deep enough so no predators dig him back up. So far that's never happened. I always bring our other animals along...don't know if they realize what is happening or not, but they always seem to take a moment to sniff around...maybe they're saying their good-byes too.

Sorry you're going through this.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

We have a Pet Cemetary here on the land. Horses, dogs, cats, goats. I feel better knowing that I put them close to me.

I am so sorry for your loss.


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

We bury them here in our yard. I make sure to bring them home.


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

Oh my! I'm so sorry for your loss!! If you're in AK and this just happened, you're in a tough spot. When we were in NY and lost one in winter, a neighbor came over with a backhoe and dug a hole for him (large Labrador). We buried all on our farm there and at one point we even dug holes before winter in anticipation - seems morbid, but we had a lot of old dogs and learned the lesson after losing the first in winter. I never could bring myself to do the burying. I took them to the vet, DH did that part.


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## shellmar (Apr 4, 2008)

I am so sorry for you loss. 

I agree that if you have the land, bury your pet and put a marker on the grave. 

Our dear kitty died in March, we had her for 14 years.
The younger kids and I said our goodbyes right after she died, which was in the evening.

My oldest ds, 19 (this kitty was really his buddy) had the job of burying her. 

I woke up in the morning and he was already digging her grave. I watched as he put her in the grave and put his hand on his heart and bowed his head. He was saying his goodbye. I think that it was helpful for him to do this, it was closure for him.


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## jbowyer01 (Aug 4, 2008)

I bury our pets and always plant something like when our beagle passed away I planted a pink dogwood next to him. I do have the ashes of my black lab, I just cant seem to part with her, crazy I know.


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

bury them on our place. in fact, first concern my kids had when we were moving to our place here was 'what about our animals?' i said they would be with us, we have that barn, pasture, etc.... NO mom, the ones in the hill??? oh. (we'd buried 3 horses, 2 dogs, a guinea pig and 2 birds there). well, that was their home, so they will stay there.

no funeral thing just a burial. DH does that dirty job for us. i really like the planting next to the grave thing as jbowyer just said, think i'll start doing that too. thats' a really nice thing.


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## danielsumner (Jul 18, 2009)

Ruth and Ruthie Mae (Mother and Daughter kittys) are cremated and are in a Oak Urn in our bedroom.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I've buried my 2 dogs where I can see the graves out the computer window.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Oh Jenny, I'm so sorry.

We bury our dogs down at the pond around the persimmon tree...a favorite spot of our first dog, Huck. 

We bury our cats in a grove of trees next to the house...a favorite hangout for all the cats. However, two of our cats are buried at the garden because the garden was their favorite place.

My hubby has actually picked up a cat and a puppy that he saw on the side of the road and brought them home to bury. He couldn't stand driving by and seeing their pitiful bodies lying neglected on the roadside.


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

Thank you for all the replies. My kitty of 18 years died last night. She was born the day I arrived in Alaska, and I got her 6 weeks later. Moving to Alaska was a lifelong dream for me, and she's been a huge part of that dream from the beginning. My husband doesn't get attached to animals, so he doesn't understand. He's always just taken our other animals away into the woods someplace. That's always been hard for me, but it's the way he wants it. But this one is different. I've had her longer than I've had him. Just doesn't seem right to do that. I was just wondering what others do. He said we can bury her up near the garden if I want. That's what we'll do. There's over 3 feet of snow, but the ground isn't frozen very far down. I'll mark her grave and plant something next spring. That will make me feel better. 

Thanks again,

Jenny


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## TJN66 (Aug 29, 2004)

Im so sorry Jenny.

Our animals are cremated and buried in the backyard with a cement marker over them (our beloved Tazz, Bumbles and Hapi). I have one very special kitty that when she dies is being cremated and buried in WITH me when I die. I have already told all my family and it is getting put in the will too.


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## Veronica (Oct 31, 2008)

I'm so sorry. All of our pets - dogs and bunnies - are buried in our land with the exception of our first dog. We lived somewhere else at the time, and she is buried at a pet cemetary about 40 miles away. I wish she could be here, but we didn't have the room at the time.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Ours are burried here or at the guest house. I plant something special on each grave. Of course things have changed over the years and the plants over ds's snake and dd's hamsters are long gone. If/when we move some of the plants will come with us.

I'm sorry about your kitty. It's hard losing faithful companions.


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## Elevenpoint (Nov 17, 2009)

Built her a cedar coffin and wrapped her in an old quilt, put a fishing pole in with her that I had taken on every canoe trip for over ten years together and put her to rest.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

We bury our animals here, even 2 horses and a calf are buried here besides our dogs and cats we have lost over the years. We learned about pet cremation when our Great Dane died during the winter and the ground was frozen. Our vet has the equipment to do it and we have used that service with all our large dogs since. Last time I think he charged $50 and it is well worth it. We can then bury the ashes at a convenient time and not have to dig such a huge hole. 

Sorry for your loss.


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## Suzyq2u (May 17, 2010)

Our basset passed just 2 wks before we moved to Germany (3yrs ago now).
I had her ashes packed with everything else, and now she's
on her way back to the states with the rest of our things.
We haven't had 'our own place' to bury them at but are buying
a house when we get back so there she will stay.

Sorry for your loss!


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## SageLady (Jun 10, 2008)

We have a special area on our land where we bury our dogs and cats. They have markers with their names on them and lots of pretty flowers and plants grow there along with a big shady tree. It was a spot that they all liked to play when they were alive.....I often go and sit there in nicer weather and smile at the memories and sometimes cry cause I miss them so much. I know I will see them again though and I feel their spirits are still with me.....
Thinking of you, akhomesteader on this sad day.


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

Thank you all for the replies and the thoughts. We buried her yesterday just behind the garden. It made me feel a little better. There's a willow bush right beside her with the largest willow flower I've ever seen. It may sound silly, but I was glad there was a flower. It's 5 below zero here, and that's the only kind of flower around this time of year in Alaska. I'll put a marker there come spring.

Thanks again,

Jenny


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## Gladrags (Jul 13, 2010)

I'm sorry about your kitty. It's hard to say goodbye. I'm glad you're able to keep her close to you.

When my fiance's beloved cat died, we buried him in the backyard, and turned that space into a garden, complete with catnip. It's kinda neat that the other neighborhood kitties come to visit Bear.


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## badlander (Jun 7, 2009)

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Pets leave cats and dogs leave paw prints on our hearts.

When I lived in the city, I lost three beloved little dogs. One I had cremated ( he was my late mothers dog ) and used a garden trowel to carefully peel back the sod on her grave, dig a small hole and leave his ashes with her. The cemetery was great. I talked to them about it and they said, technically they had to tell me no but frankly, when they weren't there, they didn't care and understood me wanting to have Binky rest with her ashes. The other two were cremated and buried in a pet cemetery that was locally owned. They have little grave markers with their names on them.

Now that we are country folks, our pets are buried in our yard when they pass with their graves marked with a stepping stone or stone marker. 

If you want to have a marker made for your beloved pet, try visiting Foster and Smith pet care site on the net. They have very affordable grave markers for sale there.

There is a place in heaven for pets.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

My last dog that had to be put to sleep at the vet's is buried out by my deer blind. I know she would love it there & can watch all the deer running around.

I put her in a tote with a couple of her favorite toys & her blanket. I also wrote her name, date of birth & dat or death & put it in with her as well as on the tote & then we buried it deep so no critters would dig it up. I have her grave marked with big rocks.


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## HilltopDaisy (Feb 26, 2003)

akhomesteader said:


> Thank you all for the replies and the thoughts. We buried her yesterday just behind the garden. It made me feel a little better. There's a willow bush right beside her with the largest willow flower I've ever seen. It may sound silly, but I was glad there was a flower. It's 5 below zero here, and that's the only kind of flower around this time of year in Alaska. I'll put a marker there come spring.
> 
> Thanks again,
> 
> Jenny


Put a great big rock there, so you never forget the exact spot....


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

I'm sorry for your loss. Dogs, cats, horses ... they all take a tiny bit of your heart with them when they go and anything you can do to make the loss heal is what you should do.

For whatever reason, possibly because my family was all somewhat of this mindset, I have never felt the need for "burial" or a gravesite. I think my basic feeling is that with death, the soul ... the essence of what that individual was ... is gone and all that is left is the shell that contained it. Fortunately, for me, I am an artist and what I do is eventually do portraits, either from memory or photos or a combination of both, of those favorites so they are on my wall and a visual reminder of the good times.










With the advent of the Internet, I have also started blogging some of the memories as well, which has been another way of both remembering and of healing the loss. Some are still living, some of the blogs are about animals I've known but not owned, but my "favorites" go here as well ... always with photos and some with portraits.

http://kaleidoscope-animalfriends.blogspot.com


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

beccachow said:


> We have a Pet Cemetary here on the land. Horses, dogs, cats, goats. I feel better knowing that I put them close to me.
> 
> I am so sorry for your loss.


We have the same. There's simply no way I could simply dispose of them...loved them too much.


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## Pyrenees (Oct 23, 2004)

I have always appreciated the memories the most. I am of the "empty shell" crowd when one one of my animals has passed.

Being a vet and knowing the cremation process though, I have never been able to hand over my critters' remains for disposal which involves them being cremated in group of animal remains.

So I always do a private cremation and get the ashes back. I have a growing number of urns in a cabinet.

I should really change my username...my last Pyrenees passed in 2008. I still love the breed, but after multiple cancer challenges I don't plan on another anytime soon.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I cremate my animal family members and add their urn to a sea chest size trunk in my closet. When my time comes my last will documented wish is to have my urn added to chest and the chest buried in the family plot.


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