A morbid but valid question.....cremation or burial?

[malta blue]

Thankfully, I am not at that point yet, but Luna dog is 15 and showing her years. She can no longer jump on the bed, sleeps all day, and has slowed down in the last few months.

When our cat was struck by a car in June 2007, Mr MB (it was his cat) buried him in the woods at the edge of the yard.

As an archaeologist, my instinct is to bury Luna when the time comes. But when we move from our house, I won't have a place to visit her...

Any thoughts DUers? What have you all done?

Thanks :hi:

[Samurai_Writer]

1. I chose cremation

For my 2 cats and my dog. I don't need a grave to visit, their memories will always be with me.

[Ayesha]

2. I chose cremation too

I have their ashes in boxes with their photo on it. When I die I want to also be cremated and my ashes scattered along with theirs.

[mak3cats]

3. Exactly the same here...(n/t)

[KC]

18. We did the

same thing and I'm so glad we didn't bury him. That way he can always go with us if we decide to move

KC

[huskerlaw]

4. All of the pets I've lost so far

have been buried in the field behind my parents' house.

Now that I live 1500 miles away and nowhere near a field of any sort, I would probably choose to cremation.

[MrsMatt]

5. We've done neither, as we've only had one

pet die - she escaped the house, and went off in the woods to die. We were planning on euthanizing her and having her cremated, but the little darling didn't give us a chance (she was a 19+ year old cat, in poor health). She would have gotten a single pet cremation.

For our current cats, we haven't decided what to do. Sometimes I'm inclined to cremate, at others I think maybe I'd put the body in the woods behind our house and let nature take its course (I've seen "Lion King" many many times!).

[hobbit709]

6. We buried our old Collie Bebop

in our back yard. And I said never again. Our yard has about 6 inches of topsoil, then it's compacted caliche-you don't dig in that, you blast and I think the city and the neighbors would frown on that. Since then the other four we've lost have been cremated. We have the ashes in a row on a shelf and we expect to be put there with them.

[MiniMe]

7. I've only lost 1 pet, but I had him cremated. Part of it is the thought of

something digging him up.

[malta blue]

12. Our cat has a very large rock placed over his grave

just for that reason.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

8. We've cremated two of our cats

We move every few years, and I want to take our babies' ashes with us. It's not morbid at all. Actually I have Fergus's ashes on my nightstand and Mr. DTBK has Simba's, and it comforts me to look at their little urns/boxes.

[China_cat]

9. I think a lot also depends on the regulations where you live.

Here, burial in the yard isn't an option, it's against the law. It's either cremation or a pet cemetery.

[malta blue]

11. I never even thought of that!

Mr MB just picked up a shovel and buried Kobe cat in the edge of the yard in June. The grave is not marked with anything but a large rock that we placed over it to ensure nothing dug it up *ugh* how morbid....

[blondie58]

10. we have several cats and hamsters buried in our yard

but I might draw the line at digging a dog size hole. But their memories are with me every day- you never forget them. Good luck and dear Luna might surprise you. Do you have any pics?

[malta blue]

13. The dog-sized hole is a task....

Mr MB had trouble making the grave for Kobe cat and to be honest, he made it too small and we had to repeat our ceremony after trying to put Kobe in....

Here is a picture of Luna:


She was once completely honey-colored. Her face is now almost totally gray.

[Tammie]

14. Cremation

The first dog I had when I was a child was buried in a pet cemetery and I am kicking around the idea of having him exhumed and cremated so I can bring him home. Since I've been an adult, we've had all our cats and dogs cremated and they sit on a bookshelf. I personally find comfort in having them at home with me. I expect to have them buried with me (when the time comes).

[BrklynLiberal]

15. Cremation...and then IF you want to..you can bury the ashes...or keep them in an urn..close to you.

[yellerpup]

16. Pandora's ashes are in a heart shaped tin.

That reside most of the time on a bookshelf, but at Christmas, she is always the first thing under the tree! Just as she was in life. Pandora LOVED Christmas.

[Warpy]

17. Burial back in New England

with a memorial bush or tree on top. Here in NM we have a layer of caliche about 12-16 inches down that lets you know why they made houses out of mud here for so long. I've had the 2 kitties who have died here cremated.

It was either that or rent a jackhammer.

[Hand]

19. Cremation--for a practical reason.

If you bury ashes, they remain undisturbed. However, if you bury a pet, there's a fair chance that predators and scavengers will dig it up, which I'm sure you don't want. I buried a roadkill raccoon near our house once and a few weeks later found that it had been dug up (probably by another raccoon that I know lives there). Its skull was sitting on the ground next to the partially opened grave.

Full disclosure: I'm the one who ran over the raccoon, and it bummed me out. It took a couple of minutes to die, but I think (hope) it was already unconscious. I was so sorry. :cry:

[calico1]

20. We have 5 sets of cremains...two dogs and

3 kitties. One kitty (calico) and two dogs (male and female Rottie) are in our bedroom. The two dogs are on top of the headrest (which is like a bookshelf) and kitty is on the lower shelf. All 3 liked to sleep with us so now they still can. The two other kitties liked certain spots in the house so from time to time I move them around to their favorite spots. I also still talk to all of them. I currently have 8 kitties and two dogs living. I like cremation because if we move we can take our furbabies with us. If we don't then when we get old and gray I plan to spread the ashes outside of their favorite spots for any of the ones who spent time outside. For my indoor only kitties I will have to see if they can be buried with us or what we can do with the ashes.

[kedrys]

21. Cremation

I'm taking Caesar's ashes with me to Canada. I really wish I had requested Marble's ashes three years ago. :(