The Other Death in the Family

Credit: Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

With a growing number of people recognizing pets as cherished members of the family, an industry of innovative, eco-friendly pet burial options has risen to meet the needs of cat and dog parents confronting the prospect of eventually honoring their lost fur-babies. But, as with all family members, that means it can be difficult to consider, let alone plan for, the eventual death of a pet.  

When a human dies (and very frequently before they do), there is a social machinery in place offering comfort and various ceremonial arrangements. When it comes to pets, however, people are often left to face the logistics while wading through the debilitating fog of new grief. 

Recent studies have shown there to be no difference between bereavement experiences over our human and nonhuman family members. As John M. Grohol, who has a doctorate in psychology, writes in PsychCentral, “Many pet owners feel their pets are like surrogate children. When put into this context, it is completely understandable why the loss of a pet can be so devastating. Losing a source of nonjudgmental, unconditional love in a person’s life is usually extremely difficult, no matter the source of that love. While some people don’t understand this, pet owners nearly always do.”

PawPods is an eco-friendly pet burial pod that
helps offer a family an experience of closure.
Credit: PawPods.com

When Natalie Venosi was facing the end of her dog Nikita’s life, a friend from Bali introduced her to farewell rituals for pets that she observes in her country, and Sweet Goodbye was born. 

Filling the niche of personalized, eco-friendly death rituals for nonhuman family members, Sweet Goodbye offers a range of burial products to suit every pet’s size, from hamsters to German shepherds. The company’s handmade, natural cotton and wool burial shrouds are inspired by funerary customs that recognize pets as part of the family. These kits come with a 24-page ceremony guidebook, a garland, a grave marker and a bag for keepsakes.  

Another ecologically conscious company, PawPods, offers a variety of fully biodegradable urns and caskets made from bamboo and rice husks. Burial options accommodate various sizes, including fish pods, small pet caskets and classic pet urns. PawPods also has what it calls a living pet memorial — a paper leaf loaded with perennial wildflower seeds that can be planted over a pet’s gravesite. 

For something a bit less subtle than a patch of flowers, The Living Urn — known for providing human burial products that essentially grow a tree from cremains — offers a variety of trees to accompany its patented bio urns, ensuring that any animal companion remains a part of the landscape for years to come. It works by placing the roots of a young tree directly into an elegant bamboo urn, which holds both ashes and an additive to protect the roots. The entire urn can then be planted in the ground. The popular website Chewy also offers keepsakes that can hold some or all of a pet’s remains. 

Whether scattering a beloved dog’s ashes along their favorite river, wrapping the family cat in handmade burial wools, allowing a companion to blossom into a tree or simply burying them beside one in the yard, the options are expansive and expanding. There’s no wrong way to memorialize a family member, whether human or any other type of animal, but the best time to plan for that memorial is always now. 

SevenPonds is not affiliated with any companies named, and does not make money from any purchases that might result from readers clicking through to the sites.