Pet Memorial Stones: A Great Way to Honor Your Beloved Pet

Losing a pet can be very difficult. You loved your pet and they were like a member of your family. Maybe they were one of your closest friends. Losing a loyal, loving companion is a terrible loss and one you may be struggling to grieve. One way to honor your beloved lost pet is with pet memorial stones. Marking a grave, or the passing of a person with a memorial stone is an ancient human custom that spans years and cultures. 

Now that we have modern technology, your pet memorial stone is likely going to look a lot different than an ancient stone marker, but the sentiment remains the same. Stones have a sense of immortality to them, and they generally remain in the same place until someone moves them. Using a stone as a memorial or placed at a memorial site reflects the permanence of our love and memories for the one who passed. The sense of eternity that a stone provides gives our memorial that same longevity, which can be comforting. 

Types of Pet Memorial Stones

There are as many types of pet memorial stones as there are things you can have engraved. The best pet memorial stones are made from thick, long-lasting granite. Pet memorial stones made from other materials could weather and degrade over time. In general, though, pet memorial stones are small plaques or stones engraved with a picture or script, and sometimes both. The script will generally list the pet’s name, dates of birth and death, and a sentimental saying of some sort. Some memorial stones will simply be a pet-appropriate saying, others will just have the pet’s information. Most memorial stones can be customized for your pet. The Living Urn offers some of the highest quality pet memorial stones on the market. They are made from durable granite and at two inches thick, will withstand lifetimes of inclement weather.

Garden Stones for Pets

Your garden is a wonderful place to put your pet memorial stone. If you had a dog or a cat, he or she likely loved being outside in the garden or yard. There are probably many fond memories of your pet outside in your garden. Gardens symbolize the life cycle as plants grow and die off in their season. Your pet memorial stone will outlast them all, remaining a constant tribute to your beloved pet. 

Engraved Stones for Pets

Your pet memorial stone can be engraved with an image of your breed of pet. Some people find an image to be comforting and help them remember their pet. You can have just the image engraved, or you can add text of your choosing. If you can’t choose, the Living Urn’s pet memorial stones have standard sayings. You can choose from sayings like “Dog’s come into our lives and leave pawprints on our heart”, “You were my favorite hello and hardest goodbye”, and “If love could save you, you would have lived forever.”. One of the most popular options is an image, the pet’s name, date of birth and death, and a short phrase, such as “Forever in our hearts”. It’s your memorial stone and you can customize it any way you’d like. 

What Do You Put on a Pet Memorial Stone?

It’s amazing how grief can steal our words and ability to express ourselves. If you need a little bit of help choosing what to put on your pet memorial stone, here are a few more ideas.

• Pets are not your whole life, but they make your life whole.
• Best friends live forever in the memories we keep.
• In memory of a faithful friend and companion.
• A beloved pet, our time was precious we knew from the start, the journey we took left your pawprints on my heart.
• You were such a great companion, constant loyal and true. My heart will always wear the pawprints left by you.
• You have left our lives but will never leave our hearts.
• No longer by my side, but forever in my heart.
• A pet’s love is never replaced and is always remembered.
• Though the sound of your footsteps is gone, sweet memories of you linger on.
• I had a good life. I guarded. I comforted. I was a friend.
• Your wings were ready, my heart was not.
• Barking, playing, an endless run; I’m up in heaven having fun.
• You left pawprints on the hearts of everyone you met.
• Until the day we meet again on the rainbow bridge.
• The hardest part of having a dog is saying goodbye.
• It’s impossible to forget a pet that gave you so much to remember.
• Forever loyal, forever loved.
• "No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat.” - Leo Dworkin
• "Everyone is taught that angels have wings. The lucky ones of us learn that they have four paws.” - Jury Nel

Other Ways to Remember Your Pet

1. Use a Pet Urn

The Living Urn makes beautiful memorial urns for your pet’s ashes. Urns are a beautiful way of remembering our pets after they pass, and a way of keeping part of them close by. The Living Urn’s pet urns can be engraved with an image of your pet’s breed, dates of birth and death, and a sentimental saying of your choice. These elegant bamboo urns will fit with any home décor and will look lovely wherever you choose to place them. And remember, there’s not a wrong place to put your pet’s urn. 

Your urn options continue with the Living Urn’s indoor or patio ceramic planter urn. The urn contains a separate space for your pet’s ashes and another space for growing a houseplant. If you owned a cat, consider choosing his or her favorite houseplant to munch on. They also offer a beautiful, artisan-designed wooden planter urn. This one-of-a-kind urn has a separate space on top of the urn to plant something lovely. 

2. Scatter part (or all) of your pet’s ashes

Scattering ashes is a time-honored ritual of grief. This can bring a sense of closure and peace. You can scatter some or all your pet’s ashes. It’s entirely up to you. The Living Urn has an Eco Scattering Urn for pets, which makes it easy to transport the ashes to the scatter place. The locking mechanism keeps the ashes secure until you’re ready to scatter them. If you’re going to multiple places, it’s easy to lock the lid back into place. 

If you’re going to scatter your pet’s ashes on water, the Living Urn offers the Eco Water Urn for Pets. This urn offers your pet a dignified water memorial. The Eco Water Urn for pets is all-natural and completely biodegradable. It will float on the water for a short time while releasing the ashes into the water beneath it. Many people choose to write messages to their pets on the outside of the Eco Water Urn. Also common is placing flowers and wreathes out on the water with the urn. 

3. Hold a burial for your pet’s ashes

Burial and a pet memorial stone go hand in hand. While they aren’t gravestones, they can be used as such. All of your pet’s ashes can be buried, or you can bury a portion, reserving the rest for scattering or display. Many people will use either their scattering urn or a regular urn as a burial urn for their pet’s ashes, or you can choose a burial urn. Choose a place that is significant to you and your pet, or a place that you can visit regularly. You may wish to host a small memorial ceremony. Having people around for comfort will help make the ritual of burial easier to handle. Make placing the pet memorial stone part of the ceremony. Now you have a place to come and be close to your pet. 

4. Grow a Memory Tree

We’ve already talked about using your pet memorial stone in the garden, but there’s more to discuss. A pet memorial stone would be the perfect accompaniment to a memory tree from the Living Urn. The Living Urn’s Bio Urn is the country’s leading tree urn company and has a well-designed tree planning system that is ideal for novices and experienced gardeners alike. What’s a memory tree? A memory tree is a tree that is planted with the ashes of your deceased pet. The young tree uses that ash to grow into a healthy, mature tree, allowing part of your beloved pet to live on. Memory trees offer a place of comfort and solace in times of grief and will eventually become a place to revisit cherished memories. Trees offer shelter, beauty, and care to all beings around them. This is likely a reflection of your beautiful pet’s heart. The trees that the Living Urn uses come from an award-winning nursery. And, unlike other companies that offer saplings or seeds, the Living Urn trees are more fully grown, which means they’ll grow successfully into a mature tree, with the proper care, of course. And, the proper care is detailed in their instructions, plus the Living Urn offers tree care support through its staff of arborists. Give them a call with any questions you have about your growing memory tree.