Like every pet owner, I've been through the horrible experience of putting your best friend down. It sucks. I've done it 6 times so far, and it never gets better.
They always offer you the choice of communal cremation (which I do) or getting their ashes back. I know some people do that, and that's fine. Some do paw prints, or snip off a few hairs to remember them by. All understandable.
And if you want to do something more, that's your business. It's not my thing, but we all have our own ways of handling loss.
Recently, though, I was taken aback.
I received an email from a cousin, who knows I write this blog, and thought this was something I'd want to post about (boy, does she know me).
She recently put her dog Fluffy down. Two days later she got an email from the crematorium. To paraphrase it:
"Hi! Just letting you know, if you want to change your mind you have 48 hours to contact us so you can memorialize Fluffy with one of the following tasteful options. If we don't hear from you, no worries, We'll proceed with the respectful communal cremation you already chose."
It then offered these decorative choices:
