Oh Alison I am so sorry about Birdie Girl

Mum has had Millie cremated as their house is on the market so they want to take her with them.

Thanks Jane Jean and Bianca - it was sad for us and although she was old we still did not expect it.

Sorry for your friend, Jane Jean to lose both both her mother and the conure in such a short space of time. Birdie Girl's cremation cost $95 plus another $15 for the urn I chose - some places obviously take advantage of others bereavement.

Does anyone else think that cremation is kind of expensive? Like...I am always surprised by how much it costs? Am I devaluing something because it seems like it's just...I don't know? I think it's definitely a service worth some money, and don't know if there is more to it, expense wise for the crematorium? The one I have used is very nice, very user friendly, met me late at night with Kramer on a Friday...but you get the bill and it's...a lot?

I know I'm kind of cheap so maybe it's just me!

Jean, my parents brought home Millies ashes today and I couldn't bring myself to ask what it cost. I am only wondering due to my cats not being in the best of health.

They did a lovely tribute card though, some of her hair tied in a little ribbon and a paw print with poem

For Aodhán, the cost for her cremation was about $85, for a private cremation. We didn't select any particular urn, just what the crematorium chose for her and she was a ~75 lb dog. I didn't think it was too bad, considering that the emergency care for her that day - between x-rays, ultrasound, IV, etc - was well over $1000.

I'm sure this price is going to vary regionally just like everything else and New England prices are typically on the high side.

Max was delivered and returned by the vet, and he cost just over $200. Plain simple box. I had looked some months back and probably could have saved by doing it myself and saving some money, but I didn't feel up to that. They go by weight, but when Indy was cremated, it was about $250 I thought, so the buyout of the clinic seems to have raised every price, but lowered the cremation cost. Weird.

Like Jean, when first faced with this with Indy, I was a bit shocked at the price, don't know what I expected really. I just do hope they were handled with respect.

If left just to me, I probably would have had the vet take care of things for me and it no doubt would have cost more - added pickup fees, etc. My DH prefers to make the arrangements and drive up to the crematorium. It helps to give him closure.

I am not sure how much the one my vet office uses costs. I like to do it, too, by driving (though I have finally given in and put the cardboard casket in the trunk now because I have this fear that the dog is going to pop up while I am driving and I keep looking...sorry) to the place.

For Bruno, at 37# it cost $129. I think Nina and Kramer were in the $180 range but I can't remember exactly. Little Fuzzball the cat...I really can't remember at all, so it must not have given me sticker shock.

When we had Eve cremated (she was a cat, something like seven pounds) it cost about $70, but also included a nice wooden box. Although now that I think about it, the vet might have bought the box for us and never charged for it.

I tend to want to have my pets cremated instead of buried. It's kind of purifying, in a way I think. As a kid, we always buried our pets but it made me upset to think of what nature does to a buried body. Plus, now the house we buried my childhood cats at is owned by someone new, and I have moved away. I guess I would be upset to ever move from my house because I could not ever visit a grave again.

I keep Eve's ashes on a bookshelf. I think about her every time I dust.

I personally choose cremation. However, I haven't gotten my head around whether I want to keep some of the ashes or not. I argue with myself. Morbid vs. comfort? Will I feel close to them looking at a box/urn or will I shy away from it thinking they are meant to be free? I just don't know, but I think it's something I have to seriously think about. I don't want it ever to be too late to have made a wrong decision. Do most of you spread the ashes over their/your favorite places or keep them with you or both?