Memorializing Your Pet

Creative Ways To Honor and Remember Them

Pets aren’t just like family, they are family – and losing them can cause as much grief as losing a close friend or family member. So, if you’re looking for creative ways to honor your pet’s memory, you’ve come to the right place. 

The loss of a pet can leave a big hole in your day-to-day routine. A grief counselor who specializes in pet loss, expands on this, explaining that:

…the proximity that our animals have, the intimacy that they share in our lives and the connection, the deep feelings that exist between guardians and their animals make this type of loss especially hard.

Beth Bigler, Pet Loss Grief Counselor

That’s true – and it’s why so many people are interested in ideas to memorialize a pet once they pass on.

Creative Ways of Memorializing Your Pet

If you’re interested in a simple, yet meaningful way to memorialize a pet, here are some unique, heartfelt options to consider.

Plant a Garden in Their Honor

Planting a garden in memory of your dog or cat is a beautiful way to honor them. Not only can the act of gardening alleviate stress and improve your mood, but you also get to create something unique to them regarding type of plant, size, and color. 

For example, after my cat Minnie died, I planted a small garden full of miniature plants, including miniature daffodils. Not only did I love planting something mini to honor his name, but the bright yellow petals reminded me of sunshine – and that was what he radiated. He radiated sunshine.

Choose colors that are meaningful to you, like lavender to symbolize tranquility or pink to symbolize comfort.

Order Pet Memorial Jewelry

Pet memorial jewelry is now offered by a lot of local vets and their partners as a way for pet owners to keep their deceased loved ones close by. 

If your pet is cremated, a tiny portion of their ashes are saved and put inside a ring, bracelet, or necklace for you to wear. I have both a pawprint necklace and a solid, purple ring with my dog’s ashes, and yeah, it’s a little weird to wear at first but pretty soon it becomes a huge source of comfort. 

Though a very popular method of memorializing a dog or cat, pet memorial jewelry has long been associated with cremation. However, if that’s not a route you feel comfortable taking or didn’t, more and more pet owners are using fur clippings instead of ashes or soil from the area in which they’re buried. 

There are many creators online, including Etsy, that work with bereaved pet owners to create a custom piece of jewelry to keep their memory alive, even if it’s just creating a necklace with their name on it. 

Regardless of what you decide to use, pet memorial jewelry is one of the more popular and sentimental ways to immortalize your pet and keep them close to your heart.

Get a Tatoo of Their Name, Face, or Paw Print

Another creative way to remember pets is to get them permanently inked onto your body. This has been a growing trend among pet owners in recent years – many of my friends included. Today’s tattoo artists are increasingly talented and can create a tattoo from a photograph of your beloved pet. 

If an image of their face isn’t your style, another option is to use either their paw print or name. One unique idea is to recreate their face with the tagline, “In memory of my dog” over top of it. Don’t be afraid to get creative.

Customize an Ornament

Like any loss, the holiday season can be difficult for pet owners struggling with their new normal, so one of the simplest but special ways to remember your dog, cat, or bird is to create an ornament. 

Some crematories will offer this service for you and transfer your paw print to an ornament engraved with their name on it, however, you can also just visit one of those ornament kiosks at the mall during the holiday season. These kiosks have tons of cute, affordable ornaments to choose from, and they can write your pet’s name on them. 

It’s one of the best ways to memorialize a pet not just for yourself, but for a friend or relative that recently lost a beloved furry friend. There’s a reason why custom ornaments are usually one of the top results for “in memory of your dog gifts” Google searches – they’re sentimental.

Create a One-of-a-Kind Paint-by-Numbers Kit

The loss of a pet doesn’t just affect one person, but the entire family. For parents and children going through this loss together, one way of remembering your dog or cat is by creating a custom paint-by-numbers kit of them. 

There are a ton of online retailers that will create these unique paint-by-numbers for you after you upload a photo of your pet. As is the case with any type of loss, it can be easy to isolate. Bringing the family together can help you bond over the loss and recount the joyful memories you share about your pet.

Order a Petsies

Petsies is an online retailer that specializes in the creation of stuffed animals that have a sincere likeness to the pet you lost. 

To order one, all you have to do is send in some photos of your pet, including unique markings, and they will create a one-of-a-kind plush in a matter of weeks. I have one of my dog and sometimes I do a doubletake whenever I walk past it because of how much it looks like her. 

In terms of pet memory ideas, these custom plushes are one of the more costly options, costing $199 to create, excluding shipping. They’re great to cuddle up and sleep with, especially if you are used to your pet sleeping with you at night. They can fill a great void.

Turn Their Ashes Into Artwork

An artist friend of mine was commissioned to add a customer’s dog’s ashes into a painting recently and I loved how unique it was. Up until that point, I’d never thought of such a thing! 

Like memorial jewelry, your pet’s ashes can be combined with glitter, paint, or resin to create a unique painting that keeps their cherished memory alive while simultaneously gifting you something that will make you smile. 

As is with jewelry, there are so many options to choose from, including landscapes, galaxies, fluid artwork, or a recreation of your furry friend’s face. Artists understand the sensitive nature that goes along with these priceless commissions and will take great care not just to ensure the safety of the ashes, but that they are respected, too.

Make a Donation to a Local Animal Shelter

Honoring a deceased pet doesn’t have to culminate in a tangible item, but instead be used as a resource to help other cats and dogs in need. 

Animal shelters allow you to keep the memory of your dog or cat alive by putting the donation in their name. When donating online, many animal shelters allow you to select an “in honor of “ or “in memory of” option before checkout. 

Giving back to the shelter you adopted them from can ensure that another animal gets a chance at the life you provided for your furry friend.

Contribute to a GoFundMe

In the same vein as donating to another local animal shelter, you may consider donating money to a GoFundMe dedicated to providing medical resources to an animal in need. Not only do some pet shelters do these, but the platform is filled with pet owners across the country who need help contributing to their pet’s medical care. 

Not only is this one of the more charitable ways to memorialize a dog or cat, but it can even be therapeutic if you lost them to a disease such as cancer or kidney disease.

Adopt a New Best Friend

After the loss of a pet, you may not be ready to jump back into pet ownership – and that’s perfectly fine and natural. As confirmed by Scientific American, the grief accompanying the loss of a pet commonly lasts between 1 -2 months but can last up to a year. 

If and when you are ready to honor your pet, adoption can be a beautiful way of doing so. With adoption, you’re giving another animal who may have been neglected, a second chance at a beautiful life. What better way to honor your lost dog or cat than to take the love you still hold for them and bestow it on someone new? 

Remember, when it comes to remembering lost pets, there is no right or wrong way to do so. Rather, you have to do what feels right to you and the bond you shared with your furry loved one.

Remembering Your Pet is the Best Way to Honor Your Bond

While it’s never easy to go through any sort of loss, finding ways to honor a deceased pet can help keep their memory alive. Over time, these treasured items – whether it be a stuffed animal, seasonal ornament, or garden, will fill that space inside your heart with a bit more joy, a bit more laughter, and most importantly, comfort. 

Have you created a memorial for your dog or cat? What do you think is the best way to honor a pet? We’d love to know and hear about what you did to memorialize your dog, cat, bird, fish, or ferret.