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Pet cremation: what are your options?
By Johan
What actually happens during a pet cremation, what does it cost, and what choices do you have? A practical overview for anyone saying goodbye to a dog, cat, or other animal.
When your dog or cat dies, practical questions arrive before you're emotionally ready for them. One of the first is: what do you do with the body? For many people, cremation is the most common choice. Here's what to expect.
Two types of cremation
With an individual cremation, your pet is cremated alone. The ashes you receive back belong only to your animal. This is the choice for anyone who wants to keep, scatter, or bury the ashes in a meaningful place.
With a communal cremation, your pet is cremated together with other animals. The ashes are not returned but scattered collectively at a pet cemetery. This is less expensive and a dignified option if you don't want to keep the ashes yourself.
What does it cost?
Prices vary by crematorium and by the weight of the animal. Roughly:
- Communal cremation: €50 to €100
- Individual cremation for a small dog or cat: €100 to €200
- Individual cremation for a large dog: €200 to €400
Some crematoria also offer a witness option, where you can be present during the cremation. For some people, that's a way of truly saying goodbye.
What do you do with the ashes?
Keeping your pet's ashes at home is permitted in the Netherlands. You can place them in an urn, scatter them somewhere meaningful, or bury them in the garden. There are also more personal options: urns that you plant in the ground alongside a tree, or memorial jewellery with a small amount of ashes inside.
For those who want to preserve the memory digitally as well: at TributeMap you can create a memorial linked to a place that belonged to both of you. The path where you always walked, the garden, the vet who was always there. Visitors can leave a memory, and the page stays up.
How do you arrange it?
Your vet can refer you to a pet crematorium, or you can find one in your area yourself. Most crematoria will also collect the animal if you can't bring them yourself, sometimes in the evening or at weekends.
Take the time you need. There's no rush to decide everything at once, and a good crematorium understands that.
Johan
TributeMap
TributeMap is a quiet place to remember loved ones at the spot that mattered to them.