Pet Memorial Ideas to Honor a Dog or Cat You Loved

Last updated: November 2026

Why does a pet memorial matter so much?

If you are reading this because your dog or cat has just died, we are so sorry. The quiet in the house, the leash still on the hook, the reflex to check the food bowl: none of that is silly, and none of it is “just a pet.” In the same RSPCA surveys, more than 99% of people described their animal as part of the family, a best friend or a companion, and 66.9% said they were surprised at how intense their grief felt.

That gap between how much it hurts and how little ceremony our culture offers is exactly why a memorial helps. A human funeral gives people a script. Pet loss usually does not, so many people are left holding a collar and wondering what they are allowed to do with it. The answer is: almost anything that feels right to you.

Memorials do a few useful things at once. They give your grief somewhere to go, they let other people who loved your pet share in it, and they turn a sudden absence into something you can touch, visit or look at. You do not have to do them all, and you do not have to do any of them this week. Some of the ideas below are time-sensitive, though, so we flag those clearly.

What are the most meaningful pet memorial ideas?

Here is a side-by-side look at the most common ways to remember a dog or cat. The costs are approximate and are our own estimates from typical retail prices, except cremation, which comes from PetMD’s veterinary guide. Prices vary a lot by region and provider.

VCA’s veterinarians suggest a few more that cost nothing: write an obituary that lists their favorite toy, nap spot and funniest habit, hold a small gathering to swap stories, or put together a short video of them in motion. If you want to give back, our guide on how to help animal shelters covers donations, supply drives and volunteering in a pet’s honour. And if a friend is the one grieving, our list of personalized gifts for pet lovers has keepsakes that star their own animal.

How do you make a paw print or nose print keepsake?

A paw print is one of the most-loved keepsakes because it is the one thing you cannot recreate later. There are two easy versions.

• Clay or salt dough print. Roll air-dry clay or a simple salt dough about an inch thick, wider than the paw. Press the paw in gently and evenly, spreading the toes a little with your fingers. Poke a hole at the top if you want to hang it, then let it dry or bake it as the kit directs.
• Ink paw print. Use a pet-safe or washable ink pad and thick card stock. Press the pad to the paw, then roll the paw onto the paper from back to front. Take three or four, because the first is rarely the best.
• Nose print. Cats and dogs each have a unique nose pattern. Dab the nose lightly with ink and press the paper to it. These make beautiful framed prints or engraved jewelry.
• Fur clipping. Snip a small lock from somewhere it won’t show, such as behind the ear or the ruff, and keep it in a small envelope, locket or glass vial.

If the clay cracks or the ink smudges, do not worry. A slightly imperfect print still holds the exact shape of the paw you held.

Should you choose cremation or burial?

There is no wrong choice here, only the one that fits your family, your home and your budget. You also do not have to decide in the exam room. Most clinics can keep your pet cold for a short time while you think.

Cremation. PetMD explains the two main types. In communal cremation, several pets are cremated together and the ashes are not returned, usually for about $50 to $200 depending on size. In private cremation your pet is cremated alone and you get the ashes back, usually for about $150 to $450, often without the urn. Ashes typically come back in one to two weeks. Collars and tags worn during private cremation are usually returned with the ashes, so take them off first if you want to keep them as they are.

Home burial. Many families find comfort in a grave in the garden. Whether it is allowed depends on your state, county, city, lease and HOA. North Carolina, for example, requires a domesticated animal to be buried at least three feet deep within 24 hours and at least 300 feet from a flowing stream or public body of water. Other places ban backyard burial entirely. Check with your city or county, call 811 before you dig, and remember that you will leave the grave behind if you move. A pet cemetery is the alternative if home burial is not possible.

How can you make a digital memorial with the Lohji app?

Most of us have thousands of pet photos and almost no way to look at them. A digital memorial pulls the best ones into one gentle place. We make the free Lohji app, available on the App Store (as Lohji: Cartoon Your Pet) and Google Play (as Lohji: Cartoon Pet Avatar), and it can be a gentle place to start. We want to be honest about what it is. It does not bring a pet back or pretend to. It turns a favorite photo into a cheerful, animated-movie-style portrait of them, the kind of thing you might once have commissioned from an artist, and it gives you a tidy place to keep it.

Start by choosing one photo. It does not need to be recent. Many people pick one from their pet’s younger years. A clear, well-lit shot where the face is visible works best, and our guide on how to take good photos of your pet explains what makes a picture read well. You sign up with a phone number and a text code, no password, and new accounts get 10 free Lohji Coins. Making the Base Lohji, your pet’s core character, costs 2 coins. You can add details such as eye color, including two different colored eyes, and distinguishing marks like a white blaze or a torn ear. If the first version misses, Try Again costs 1 coin.

From that Base Lohji you can make images, phone or tablet wallpapers, and watch faces for Apple Watch or Wear OS. Each costs 3 coins. Some people find a lock-screen portrait comforting; others need time first. Both are normal. A 4K collector card costs 4 coins and lays your pet out as a trading-card hero with stats and badges. It is a lighter tribute, and for kids especially it can be a nice way to talk about what made their pet special. There is more on that idea in our pet trading card guide.

The free features are where the memorial really comes together. The Lohji Slideshow gathers your images, cards, stickers and videos into a show that opens with an intro card bearing your pet’s name. The soundtrack is generated live in the app in three moods, playful, dreamy or chill, and you can mute it. For a memorial, dreamy or chill tends to suit. Tap Share as movie and the app records the show as an MP4 and opens your phone’s share sheet, so you can send it to family, post it, or save it to Photos. If you have made short animated videos (5 coins each), the free Mini Movie tool stitches 2 to 10 of them into one file. For editing real clips of your pet, see our walkthrough on how to make a video of your pet.

To keep everything organized, put the pieces in a folder for that pet in the library, and mark the ones you love most as favorites so they gather on the My Faves page. Folders, favorites, rearranging, saving and sharing are always free. Coins never expire and are not a subscription. If you want more after the welcome coins, packs are $2.99, $6.99 or $14.99. Our one practical tip is to save copies of anything precious to your phone’s photo library too, so the memories live in more than one place.

How do you help children grieve a pet?

Children often grieve in bursts. They can be sobbing one minute and asking for a snack the next, and that does not mean they did not care. Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine suggests avoiding euphemisms like “put to sleep” or “passed on,” which young children can take literally, and being honest that the pet died and will not come back.

The Tufts helpline also recommends a few simple steps:

• Encourage your child to talk, and be honest about your own feelings. It is fine for them to see you cry.
• Tell their teacher or daycare so they know why your child may be quiet.
• Make it clear that nobody is to blame. Children often wonder whether they caused it.
• If possible, give them a chance to say goodbye.
• Read a children’s book about pet loss together.

Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine adds that letting children take part in memorializing the pet, by drawing a picture, writing a story or sharing memories, can be healing for the whole family. Give kids a real job: pressing the paw into the clay, choosing photos for the book, picking the tree, or decorating a memory box. Concrete tasks help children who do not yet have the words.

Do other pets grieve when a companion dies?

Many owners say yes, and research backs up what they see. In a 2016 study in the journal Animals, owners in Australia and New Zealand described how 159 dogs and 152 cats behaved after losing an animal companion. Changes in affectionate behaviour were reported in 74% of dogs and 78% of cats, often as clinginess or demanding more attention. About 60% of dogs and 63% of cats changed territorial behaviour, such as seeking out the deceased pet’s favorite spot. Some dogs ate less and slept more, and cats often vocalized more. Most changes eased within six months. The authors note that owner reports can be colored by the owner’s own grief.

A few things help a surviving pet:

• Keep meals, walks and bedtime on the usual schedule.
• Offer extra play and attention, but avoid rewarding anxious behaviour with treats every time.
• Leave the other pet’s bed or blanket out for a while if it seems to comfort them.
• Call your vet if a pet stops eating for more than a day or two, or seems unwell.

Hold off on a new animal until both you and your remaining pet are ready. Our multi-pet household tips help when that time comes.

What should you do with the collar, ID tag and Smart Tag profile?

The collar is often the first object people reach for, and it is worth keeping. Hang it by the door, coil it in a shadow box with a photo, or loop it around the urn.

“Most pet owners find it meaningful to have an object that links them to their pet. This object may be a dog’s collar, a cat’s toy mouse, a special blanket, or even a food dish.”

Laurel Lagoni, pet-loss grief specialist, Veterinary Wisdom, 2023

An engraved ID tag can go on a keychain or a bracelet. If your pet wore a Shiloh’s House Smart Tag, you have a choice about its live profile. Some families leave it exactly as it is, photo, name and all, because it is a small page that still says who their pet was. Others prefer to retire it. You can edit the pet’s details any time, switch the profile image between the photo and the Lohji, or delete the pet from the pets list in Settings.

For pets who are aging now, our guide to senior pet care and ID tags covers keeping medical notes current through the later years.

What rituals help on the hard days?

Grief tends to spike on certain days: the first walk without them, their birthday, the anniversary of their death, the holidays. A small ritual gives those days a shape. A few that families tell us help:

• Light a candle at the same time each evening for the first week.
• Write a letter to your pet, which UC Davis’ pet loss support team lists among its self-care tips.
• Walk their favorite route on the anniversary and tell a story about them out loud.
• Paint a memory stone with their name and set it in the garden.
• Keep celebrating their adoption day with a donation or a toast. Our gotcha day ideas adapt easily to a remembrance.

If you follow a faith or cultural tradition, it is entirely fitting to adapt its prayers or customs for your pet. OVC Pet Trust’s guide puts it simply: there is no wrong choice.

Where can you find support for pet loss grief?

If the grief feels heavy or lonely, talking to someone who understands helps. Several veterinary schools run free support lines staffed by trained volunteers:

• Tufts Pet Loss Support Helpline, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine: 508-839-7966. Staffed 6 to 9 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Thursday, with 24-hour voicemail returned at the next shift.
• Cornell Pet Loss Support Hotline, College of Veterinary Medicine: 607-218-7457. Staffed by veterinary students trained by grief counselors. Hours vary by season, so call for the current schedule.
• Chicago Veterinary Medical Association Pet Loss Helpline: leave a voicemail at 630-325-1600.

Cornell also points to online groups, including Lap of Love’s Zoom support groups and the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement. Your own veterinary clinic may know of a local group or a veterinary social worker. Hours at these services change, so check the page or call before relying on a list, including ours.

If grief turns into thoughts of harming yourself, please contact a crisis service instead. In the US, call or text 988 any time.

Frequently asked questions