More Than a Pet: Celebrating the Life of an Animal Who Was Family
To have felt the love between a pet and yourself is magic, and losing it is some of the deepest pain...we wanted to share several ways that we memorialize them, keep them with us, and allow them to continue living on through us.
Mourning the loss of a pet has been scientifically proven to cause the brain similar pain and effects as the loss of a family member. Obviously, with their loss comes tremendous pain, grief, and at times a sense of misunderstanding from those who view your fur baby as “just a dog.”
Having experienced our own immense losses when our fur babies passed in the last year, we wanted to share several ways that we memorialize them, keep them with us, and allow them to continue living on through us.
1. Jewelry
If you cremate your babies, we highly recommend having a tiny bit of their remains made into jewelry. Jems and Juniper (linked) is a highly recommended website that we have personally purchased from and received gorgeous jewelry from. No one ever knows that it is jewelry made from their remains unless you want them to. We have had both a necklace and a ring made, and we have thoroughly enjoyed them and constantly receive compliments. Each compliment reminds me of my baby—which is exactly why it is there.
Another very favored option can be found on Etsy (linked) and is made from their nose print. One of the coolest parts about this method of jewelry is that the company can pull the nose print from a close-up photo of your dog. So your dog can already be passed, and you can still purchase this jewelry to memorialize them without stressing that you didn’t get their nose print while they were still alive. This necklace option was gifted to me after two of my fur babies passed last year, and they are pieces I wear every day. One of the necklaces even has the last words I ever said to him engraved on the back.
Men’s Preferred Option:
Of course, a man can wear either of the above options as well, but if you are looking for a more “masculine” option, you can see the one
linked here. This necklace appears as a regular piece for a guy to wear, but it holds a tiny bit of their remains inside and can also have words engraved on the back. When our first baby passed in early 2025, this was my husband’s Valentine’s gift. He was very touched by it and now wears it nearly every day.
2. Christmas Ornaments
As a family, we get a new Christmas ornament each year. So when a fur baby passes, having their paw print made into an ornament for your tree is a beautiful addition to honor them and help them be part of the first Christmas without them. The business that cremated our babies very kindly made paw print ornaments for both of them. Instead of putting them on our tree, we actually have them on little stands next to their remains.
3. Planting a Tree or Plant
Pets are so connected to nature and help ground us back toward it, so when they pass, it feels natural to plant something in their memory. For us, we were gifted a tree when our second baby passed last year. It was actually a tea tree—which will eventually allow us to harvest tea from it. Ghost (our dog) was very grounding and deeply connected to our garden, the land, and nature, so having a tree next to our garden that we will harvest from for years to come feels very parallel to who he was.
Another planting we do in their name is getting a house plant and using their personal food bowl as the “pot” for it. We place their collar around the bowl so we always remember it was theirs and keep it somewhere in our home. This plant becomes a daily reminder of them as you walk by and remember how they live on in both small and large ways.
4. A Photo Album
After they pass, we save all of our photos of them onto a hard drive so that if something happens to our phones, we won’t lose those memories. We also make a photo album that shows their life from puppyhood to adulthood and through to their passing. We never want to forget what they looked like or be unable to view their photos due to a lack of a device. This album, for us, sits next to their cremains on a shelf so we can look through it whenever we want.
5. Mementos
We choose to keep all of the cards, flower notes, and gifts given to us during our losses because they help us get through those moments and remind us how much love exists in our lives. These small notes of love are then placed inside their photo album so we can continue to revisit them whenever we want.
6. Booking a Medium
For both of our losses last year, we decided to book a medium. The first time she was new to us, and the second time we returned to the same person. I am a pretty hard-to-please non-skeptic (haha). I have my own abilities, so I am not skeptical of the concept of connection at all—however, I am extremely skeptical of people who pretend in order to receive money from those in grief.
The medium we chose to utilize (linked) was fantastic and, with little to zero affirmation from me, brought through both of our babies in monumental ways. She shared information that she could not have known and that no one else knew (like the last words I said to Ghosty). It was truly a gift during such a difficult time. During these sessions, I take notes the entire time, and afterward I place those notes into their photo album so I can revisit them later.
7. Mugs
Each time a fur babe has passed, we have gotten a mug with their image or outline on it. Mugs are kind of our thing since we love coffee, so it makes us light up in the mornings when we reach for their mugs. While they aren’t running in the yard while we sip our coffee anymore, they are still with us as we do.
8. Celebrate Their Birthdays
While celebrating their birthdays may look different now, do something to honor them. Our first was born on February 11th, and since we work in the hospitality industry—which means we rarely get to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th—we now celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 11th as a way of showing love to her at the same time.
Sometimes their birthdays won’t fall near a holiday, so take a walk, bake something, go out to dinner, cheers a mocktail to them, or do whatever makes you think of them. Celebrate what they were to you on that day. They will always be with you and grateful that you celebrated them, even without their tangible presence.
9. Make a Video
Though social media can sometimes feel like it’s about what everyone else thinks of you, we used it after the deaths of our fur babies to create and post videos compiling all of our favorite clips of them. It becomes an archive of our life with them that we can watch whenever we want. Having it online means that even if something happens to our devices, we will still be able to access the video. Creating these videos has been very cathartic, as well as revisiting them.
10. Donate in Their Name
Each time we lost a baby, my work team gathered money for me to choose an organization to donate to in their name. This made me emotional each time, but it allows your baby’s life and love to live on by helping others who are still here. It is a deeply touching gift that brings light in the midst of deep sadness.
11. Adopt Again
Loving another fur babe was a difficult decision to make—but it was also one of the best decisions in the world. It can feel like they were sent to you by your last one. You watch your love become the entire world for another baby, reviving pieces of you that felt like they died when your last one passed.
12. Read Books
Below is a quick list of some of the books that were helpful for me to navigate the grief:
"Signs" written by Laura Lynne Jackson
"The Amazing Afterlife of Animals: Messages and Signs From Our Pets On the Other Side" written by Karen Anderson
13. Gifting to Those Grieving: The amount of support that I felt from people that cared during the time of our losses was immensely impactful. It was all of the small gestures of love that really helped pull us through. With that, I have found the company linked here to be a great resource for giving to those that are experiencing loss, but don't live as near to you as you would like. It helps to give them a metaphorical hug from you, but from afar, and makes them feel supported and loved during the worst of it.
Choosing to love again and help save another fur babe will only make the one you ache for, immensely happy. They will still be there beside you both—loving you, guiding you, and watching over you.
To have felt the love between a pet and yourself is magic, and losing it is some of the deepest pain. If you fall into the group of those who have lost, I am sending you our deepest love and positivity on your journey through grief. We hope this list helps you continue to feel them, love them, and learn how to move forward with them in their new form.
<3
Annastasia
