Grief

• Common Grief Symptoms
• Understanding Grief
• Responding to Children's Needs During Pet Loss
• When Your Pet is Sick
• Memorialization
• Single Page
• RELATED: A Guide for the Consideration of Euthanasia

Memorialization
Dedicated to and in loving memory of Barney

Below are a variety of ideas for memorializing a pet. The ideas were contributed by volunteers of the Pet Loss Support Hotline at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. I was inspired to create this when I learned of the impending death of my beloved cat, Barney. Barney died on June 30, 1990. This is intended to be a living document such that ideas are continually being added to it.

Leah M. Hertzel, Class of 1991
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

• Take lots of photographs, and when you think you've taken enough, take some more. Use the photos to fill an album, place them in your pet's favorite spots in the house, make a collage with them, fill a multi-picture frame with them, carry pictures in your wallet.
• Write a poem, story, song, etc., about and/or dedicated to your pet.
• Write down your special memories of your pet. Add to these stories or anecdotes from friends and family. Alternatively you could make a tape recording of the same thing.
• Chronicle your pet's life with photos and/or by keeping a journal of its life.
• Write a letter to your pet expressing feelings you may be struggling with.

• Videotape your pet doing anything and everything -- eating, sleeping, playing, and just sitting there.
• Make something that reminds you of your pet, e.g., a drawing, a clay sculpture, a needlework project, etc.
• Have a professional portrait, sketch, sculpture done of your pet. This can be done after the pet's death from a photograph. You can also have a photo of your pet transferred to a T-shirt, clock, button, mug (check advertisements in magazines like "Dog Fancy" and "Cat Fancy").
• Keep baby teeth, whiskers, fur (from shaved areas) and place in a locket.
• Horses - save shoes, tail, mane hairs from horses.
• Keep pet tags. You can place these on your key ring so that you will always be carrying the memory of your special friend with you.
• Have a plaque made to honor your pet. Place it in a special place -- next to your pet's ashes, on a tree near where your pet was buried, in the hospital where your pet was cared for, etc. One place you can order one is at the Argus Institute.
• Make a donation in memory of your pet to a special cause.
• Volunteer your time at a humane organization and/or help find homes for strays and unwanted pets.
• Start a pet loss support group in your area.
• Plant a bush, shrub, tree, flowers over or near the location where the body or ashes are buried.
• Place a bench with an engraved nameplate and/or inscription beside where your pet is buried.
• Place ashes in a potted houseplant.

• Scatter ashes in an area that was special to you and your pet.
• Place ashes in a locket with your animal's name engraved on the locket. (Ashes need to be sealed in an airtight bag and then placed in the locket, which must be airtight as well.)
• Collect pet's collars, tags, bowls, blankets, etc., and place in a special area in honor of your pet. Can also place ashes, sympathy cards, etc., with them.
• Send out cards with a photograph of your pet informing those close to you and your pet of your loss.
• If the animal is not buried near you, take pictures of the grave and place these in a special spot which you can "visit".

We would like to acknowledge the Argus Institute at Colorado State University for some of the information contained in this handout. There are several helpful links on their website for help in issues of pet loss, grief and the human-pet bond.

RELATED: The Decision for Euthanasia  >>

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