Pet Burial Options

You do have options when it comes to aftercare for your pet. A dignified burial is important for closure and helps your family members, especially children, realize that their pet is not suffering but the pet is not coming back. Some families choose to have a funeral while others may choose a simple memorial service.

Home burial has always been and continues to be a very popular choice for pet owners who want to keep their pet close by. You are saying goodbye and they are able to remain at the home they loved. It is a dignified way to say your final goodbye. Home burial is the least expensive of your options. Be sure to check with your local community to confirm that home burial is allowed in your area.

Burial in a pet cemetery is also an option. Each cemetery will provide you with different options including the choice of a location and a casket. Prices range by region and by cemetery. Be sure to ask about maintenance fees to cover perpetual care. Pet cemetery burial will be your most expensive option. Your veterinarian should have an established relationship with the local pet cemetery and be able to assist in making the arrangements for you.

I hope you are able to find some comfort by visiting this site. It is our mission to provide a superior product that allows you to pay a fitting tribute to a cherished part of your family. We understand this is a very difficult time for you, and we believe our caskets are a peaceful, loving and dignified way to send your beloved pet on Nature’s Way Home. Please visit our web site, http://natureswayhome.com/eco-friendly-pet-caskets/, to make a selection that is appropriate for your pet.

]]> http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/pet-burial-options-enviromentally-freindly-pet-caskets/feed/ 0 http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/reading-resources/ http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/reading-resources/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:22:46 +0000 debra http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/156/

There are many great resources out there to help you through the grieving process of losing a beloved pet. Sometime you might just prefer to pick up a good book. There are a lot of books that might help you through this very difficult time. A few are listed below. I hope you find something to bring you comfort and closure at this difficult time.

Reading for Children:

The Tenth Good Thing about Barney, J. Viorst

Dog Heaven, C. Rylant

When a Pet Dies, F. Rogers

Reading for Adults:

Pet Loss: A Thoughtful Guide for Adults and Children, H. Neiburg

It’s Ok to Cry: Warm, Compassionate Stories that Help you Find Hope and Healing After the Death of a Beloved Pet, M.L. Quintana, S.L. Veleba, & H. King

Pet Loss and Human Bereavement, W. Kay, et al

Coping with the Loss of Your Pet, M. Anderson

How to Roar: Pet Loss Grief Recovery, Robin Jean Broan

Pet Loss: A Spiritual Guide, Julie Harris

Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for anyone who has ever lost a pet, Gary Kowlaskik

Animals as Teachers & Healers, S. McElroy

A Final Act of Caring: Ending the Life of an Animal Friend, Mary Montgomery and Herb Montgomery

How Do You Tell the Children: A Step-by-Step Guide for Helping Children Two to Teen Cope When Someone Dies, Dan Schaefer, Christine Lyons, and David Peretz MD

The Loss of a Pet: A Guide to Coping with the Grieving Process When a Pet Dies, Wallace Sife

Grieving the Death of a pet, Betty J Carmach

Saying good-bye to the Pet you love: a complete source to help, Lorri A Greene, Jacquelyn Landis, Alan M Beck

If you are visiting our site, because you have lost a dear pet, please accept our depest sympathy.  I hope you are able to find some comfort in one of the resoursces listed above.

]]> http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/reading-resources/feed/ 0 http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/dealing-with-the-loss-of-your-pet/ http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/dealing-with-the-loss-of-your-pet/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:21:23 +0000 debra http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/dealing-with-the-loss-of-your-pet/

Everyone deals with the grief of losing a pet in different ways and there are different stages of grief.

1.  Denying the bad news.  We deny the facts because we try to insulate ourselves from the pain that we know we will feel.

2.  Anger.  Anger is a very common emotion and can be directly towards a variety of people including your veterinarian or even yourself.

3.  Sadness.  You will no doubt be very sad and mourn the loss of your pet.  This sadness can manifest itself in a variety of ways, but talk to someone.

4.  Going Forward.  Recall your memories of special times with your pet.  You will know when you are ready to open your heart to another pet.

If you have a pet that is ill and you want to make prearrangements, you can select one of Nature’s Way Home caskets for a loving, memorable and dignified way to say goodbye.  If you have any questions about our products, please feel free to give us a call at 817-270-1019

Ran across a press release for a new book on dealing with the loss of a pet….wanted to share it……

Owners provide for pets as family members and grieve when they lose a pet. The new book “So Easy to Love, So Hard to Lose,” by Laurie Kaplan guides them through their grief journey and presents a new perspective on pet loss grief.

Briarcliff Manor, NY, June 01, 2010 –(PR.com)– More than half of the households in the U.S. have a pet. After providing a pet with unconditional love, medical care and home care as a member of the family, owners grieve when they lose a beloved pet. Friends and family say, “Get over it, it’s just a pet!” But, without support, grievers push aside their feelings and are crippled by remorse for years.

In June 2010, JanGen Press will release So Easy to Love, So Hard to Lose, by Laurie Kaplan of Ossining, NY. In this book, Kaplan provides support and validation to grieving pet owners and a new perspective of the grief process and of pet loss as it differs from other types of grief.

Beside each page of text, readers write their personal answers to a series of questions related to the text. Questions are carefully composed to expertly guide readers along their own journey, from learning that their pet is in end of life care to the loss and their grief.

As founder/administrator of the Magic Bullet Fund, Kaplan provides financial assistance, guidance and support to families who have a dog with cancer but can’t afford treatment. including support after their loss. So Easy to Love, So Hard to Lose offers all readers this same support, to move through grief and finally celebrate their memories of the magical person-pet bond.

So Easy to Love, So Hard to Lose available from publisher: www.JanGenPress.com.

Retailers are invited to order through Baker & Taylor.

If you are preparing for the loss of a pet, consider one of our bio degradable pet caskets or pottery cremation urns….

Don’t know how I actually ran across this, but it touched my heart   as I hope it will yours.

At Nature’s Way Home we believe……

They are our friends, defenders, partners, our pets. We are their lives and leaders. They are ours faithful and true, until the last heartbeat. For such devotion, we owe the a fitting, final journey on

Nature’s Way Home

Tags: pet loss, pet funeral, pet devotion, pet casket, pet cremation, dog loyalty, dog funeral, dog loss

]]> http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/saying-goodbye/feed/ 0 http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/pet-quotes-by-and-for-pet-owners/ http://natureswayhome.com/pet-loss/pet-quotes-by-and-for-pet-owners/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:35:11 +0000 debra http://natureswayhome.com/?p=172

It is just amazing the number of quotes out there that pertain to our pets…Happy quotes, sad quotes, thoughtful quotes….the list goes on.

I would like to share a few of them with you from time to time…I hope they will make you smile or maybe even laugh.  I hope they make you recall a special memory or a special time shared with your beloved pet.  Enjoy…

” Dogs have owners, cats have staff.” ~ Unknown

“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein

” A house is not a home without a pet.” ~ Unknown(Swedish Proverb)

“Friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief.” ~ Unknown

“Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this.” ~ Unknown

“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, Filling an emptiness we don’t even know we have.”~Thom Jones

“The problem with loving is that pets don’t last long enough and people last too long.” ~ Anonymous

I ran across an article recently in the the New York Times….thought I would share it you.

Mourning the Death of a Pet
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Years ago, I had an orange tabby cat named Dave who was more person than pet. Sometimes when my husband and I were visiting our neighbors in Houston, we would hear a knock at the door. “It’s probably Dave,” our friends would say, and sure enough, there he was on the step, waiting to be invited in with the rest of us.

When Dave died after being hit by a speeding car, I remember feeling a profound sense of loss and dreaded going to work the next day. “My cat died,” I told my editors, wiping my eyes with a tissue. Even as I explained, I knew I sounded silly to them.

I thought about Dave recently as I was reading an article on PsychCentral.com about the death of a pet. Leigh Pretnar Cousins writes about how she lost so much more than a pet when her 14-year-old silver cat, Luna, died.

I am stunned at how much I miss her and how empty the house feels without her soft round self asleep on the sofa. With her passing goes a chunk of my son Matt’s childhood. He was 10 years old when he selected her out of a box of kittens abandoned at the wildlife center….In Matt’s raising of and caring for Luna, I witnessed an enduring trait in my son: his extraordinary gift for nurturing.

Last year, researchers from the University of Hawaii’s animal science department conducted a study to determine the level of grief and stress that a pet owner experiences when a pet dies. Among 106 pet owners interviewed from a veterinary clinic, 52 percent had lost one or more pets from natural causes, while 37 percent had lost a pet to euthanasia. Although many pet owners experience significant grief when a pet dies, about 30 percent reported grief that lasted six months or longer. Severe grief that resulted in major life disruption was less common but was estimated as high as 12 percent of those studied.

It’s not only animal researchers who are taking note of the grief that occurs when a pet dies. The journal Perspectives in Psychiatric Care noted that the bond between people and their pets can affect both physical and mental health, and that the grief reaction that occurs after a pet’s death is “in many ways comparable to that of the loss of a family member.”

“Unfortunately, the loss of a pet is not recognized consistently by friends, acquaintances or colleagues as a significant or authentic occasion for bereavement,” the journal authors wrote.

When my cat died, the reaction was mixed. One person shrugged and said, “Well, I’m a dog person.” A well-meaning friend fumbled when he asked, “Are you over the cat thing yet?” The best response was from a man I worked with who adored his pet basset hounds. I received a sympathy card in the mail noting that a donation to the local animal shelter had been made in the memory of Dave.

To learn more, read the full PsychCentral post, “When a Beloved Pet Passes Away.” The Humane Society of the United States also offers advice on coping with grief after a pet dies. And please join the discussion below. How did you cope with the grief of losing a pet?

Ran across this blog today….Thank you Collin……and check out his site………….

Some people may feel that having a funeral for a pet is going a bit too far. Those people have likely never had a pet that was part of the family for many years. A funeral for a pet accomplishes the same thing that a funeral for a human does. The pet is honored, we remember all the good times of our lives that we shared with the pet and we say a final goodbye.

Pet funerals are perhaps the single best way to teach children about dying and the proper emotions one should feel when losing someone they love. The ceremony can show how we honor our responsibility to the dead by giving them a proper, honorable send away.

The type of pet doesn’t matter. As adults, we probably won’t be terribly affected by the passing of a pet mouse or gold fish that has been with the family for a whopping three weeks. But children are still unsure about things such as proportional response and can be just as affected by one death as another. Every effort should be taken to honor Sam the fish, a family member for 27 days, just as highly as Rocky the Lab, who lived with us daily for 15 years.

A pet funeral is conducted the same way a funeral for human being is. The location is the place best suited, such as a back yard or a dedicated pet cemetery. The occasion should consist of a few words spoken by whoever chooses. Perhaps some music can be played and when the ceremony concludes, a final goodbye given. It’s always a good idea for an adult to say a few words on a serious matter about life and death as well as letting the children have their say.

Many people choose to memorialize their pet. This is easily accomplished with a few photos or perhaps a favorite toy. Children can write poems of make drawing of the pet. The death can be commemorated by making a small donation to an animal shelter or other animal related charity.

The loss of a family pet means more than simply the death of an animal. It can mark the passing of time and the transition from one stage of life to another. A family dog acquired when a child is very young will often pass away sometime around the time a child becomes a young adult and can mark a turning point in the child’s life. A pet’s death is inevitable, but shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Collin is a trainer and pet enthusiast. He has spent much of his time working with pets and their families in a variety of fields, but now focuses his time on sharing his expertise with others. Visit Collins website Pet-Super-Store.com for great deals on dog beds and dog collars

Anyone have a favotire pet quote you would like to post? Would welcome them……

“A person who has never owned a dog has missed a wonderful part of life.” ~ Bob Barker

“… what we have enjoyed, we can never lose … all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” ~ Helen Keller

“If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness.” ~ Marjorie Garber

“The problem with loving is that pets don’t last long enough and people last too long.” ~ Anonymous

“A cat is a puzzle for which there is no solution.” ~ Hazel Nicholson

“Animals are such agreeable friends. They ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.” ~ George Elliot

“A good dog never dies. He always stays. He walks besides you on crisp autumn days when frost is on the fields and winter’s drawing near. His head is within our hand in his old way.” ~ Mary Carolyn Davies

“A house is not a home without a pet.” ~ Unknown