Anyone else have their personal "Pet Cemetary?"

[sodamo]

Not weird at all.

When we lost Jack quite suddenly and unexpectedly 4 years ago, we chose a special place out front with nice ocean view and designated it our pet cemetery. No headstones etc, but a number of bushy flowers and palm trees planted. He has since been joined by our female cat, Focus and a pigeon that crashed into the house and broke its neck. Plenty of space for our six remaining boxers, but our oldest, Ruby, mother of Jack's pups and best friend will get the spot next to him; likely soon as she has turned 12 and has cancer.

Thinking about what to post here, I can remember every pet I've had to bury and even picture where. Sadly, I lost my first boxer boy from cardiomyopathy at the vet and was so devastated I couldn't bring him home, sometimes I regret that.

Interesting comments on ashes, maybe our pet cemetery will be my final place as well.

David

 

[Bocephous]

We have pet cemetery too. I want my ashes to be scattered or buried in the same place.

Same for my wife and I. We left an area of our yard, down below our pond, for our pets. We buried our old boy down there on January 1st, 2010. Second hardest thing I've ever had to do, but now I just remember all the good times we had when I walk past his marker.

Sodamo, I'm sorry for Ruby; our old boy was a boxer that I rescued. Great dogs, always happy and always playful.

 

[Domush]

When a horse dies we tend to just dig a hole in an easy to dig spot. Out of sight never means out of memory.

I've never been a fan of wasting space for dead things when they could be used for good soil later on. Kind of my concept of a tree of life, a death helping grow new life.

Plenty of people just want an acre to live on and here people are reserving space for those who no longer need it. I don't find death morbid, but doing things for dead things seems pointless and a bit like saying "this person/ animal is dead and it still has more rights than you" to anyone living.

Don't mean to diminish your love for your friends, but see no point in giving the dead what they won't enjoy and does no good. Where burying at the base of a tree, for example, ensures the tree gets fed and you still get the lasting memory (until you're ready to no longer need it). Win-win, in my opinion.

 

[Mike_Kanzer]

I think it is a nice idea to honor your pets after they have passed on. We have three dogs and a cat buried in a corner of our back yard. They have small flat granite markers over their graves with there names and dates. I always have great memories of them when I am around that portion of the yard. Pets are family members and are missed as much as any person would be. I always think it is a shame that they don't have longer life spans so we could spend more time with them. - Mike

 

[dmccarty]

Our dogs that have died are on a shelf. Their ashes that is.

Two of the dogs died when we lived in the city and we knew we would be moving so we had them cremated. When my Kelly died she was put on the shelf as well. The last dog I had as a kid was buried at my parents house. Eventually they moved and I am sure the people who own the house don't know what is buried under what was then a small bush but is now a very large bush.

We do not plan on moving but if we had too at least we would not leave our dogs behind.

Later,
Dan

 

[JDgreen227]

Very glad to learn others here also have a proper resting place for their pets. We pondered the cremation issue ourselves when our first pet died...I have one favorite cat who is four years old and thanks to the members here who chimed in, I am seriously considering having him cremated at death...only issue is, I too want to be cremated myself. Every time I am out near the headstones while mowing, I stop and say "hello" to our departed pets...makes it hard not to cry when I do that but I also remember the joy they contributed to our lives, which means I am basically crying and laughing.

Oh--and if we ever sold the property I would be sure the new owners knew what was in that area...

 

[wjoerob]

Nothing to report like you guys about pets, but love this memory: When my son had a birthday party, we had just that day lost a llama to a parasitic nervous system disease. Didn't have any backhoe, needed to bury it in the woods out of sight of nosy neighbors. So I thought, why not take advantage of all this young muscle power, instead of killing myself digging a hole that size by hand? Suggested the idea to the teenagers, and you would have thought I had the best-ever idea for a party! One of the kids said, "Now there's something you don't get a chance to do at a birthday party every day!" They dug the hole with shovels and loved dragging the dead llama over to it. Made sure it was done in as sanitary way as possible, everybody washed up. And none of the parents sued me for emotional distress of their precious young-uns.

 

[sodamo]

Same for my wife and I. We left an area of our yard, down below our pond, for our pets. We buried our old boy down there on January 1st, 2010. Second hardest thing I've ever had to do, but now I just remember all the good times we had when I walk past his marker.

Sodamo, I'm sorry for Ruby; our old boy was a boxer that I rescued. Great dogs, always happy and always playful.

Thanks. She has had a great life. When we lost Jack, we thought we were going to lose her, she was so down. Ruby was only 8 weeks old when we rescued Jack, who was 9 months. They grew up together for 8 years. Fortunately, we had Kalani, another almost 7 month old boxer girl and she forced Ruby to live. Took almost 2 years before she would even go near the pet cemetery. If wife and I walked down there, she would just stay up by the house and watch us. She was just 40 days shy of turning 12 when diagnosed. As I asked our vet, how many 13 yo boxers in your practice? The prednisone has been a big help and as long as she has quality of life she'll be with us, but her final place is there, next to Jack.

David

 

[Jstpssng]

Stealing the idea of a TBNmember, Musquash is buried near the mouth of my driveway. I dug that grave by hand, I refused to use the tractor.

My cousin told of an Indian friend who's family has always loved dogs. For several generations they've planted a fruit tree on the grave of every dog they've buried.

I may steal that idea also, and plant a chestnut tree there.

 

[JDgreen227]

Stealing the idea of a TBNmember, Musquash is buried near the mouth of my driveway. I dug that grave by hand, I refused to use the tractor.

My cousin told of an Indian friend who's family has always loved dogs. For several generations they've planted a fruit tree on the grave of every dog they've buried.

I may steal that idea also, and plant a chestnut tree there.

The dog I mentioned that was lost in a roadfront accident...well, that was in mid winter. Ever tried to dig even a small, shallow grave when it's 10 degrees and the fround is frozen...and by hand? Took me about 5 hours.