Heartstrings Pet Hospice, In-Home Euthanasia and Aftercare

How to Choose the Right Pet Cremation Option for Your Family?

There is no single right answer here. The best choice depends on your values, your plans for your pet’s remains, and what feels most honoring to the life they lived. A few patterns we see again and again: Families who want to keep ashes at home or use them in a memorial tend to choose private cremation or private aquamation.

What Is Traditional Cremation?

Traditional cremation — also called flame cremation — is the method most people picture when they hear the word. Your pet is placed in a cremation chamber and exposed to intense heat, typically in the range of 1,400 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, until only bone minerals remain. Those minerals are then processed into the fine ash returned to your family.

What Is Aquamation (Water Cremation)?

Aquamation — also known as water cremation or alkaline hydrolysis — uses a combination of gently heated water and an alkaline solution to break down your pet’s remains. It mirrors the natural process that occurs in the earth, only accelerated and carried out in a controlled setting. Aquamation appeals to many families for a few reasons: Lower environmental impact.

Does Cost Differ Between Cremation and Aquamation?

At Heartstrings Pet Hospice, private cremation and private aquamation are priced identically, and communal options are priced identically to each other. Pricing is based on your pet’s weight rather than the method you choose. That is deliberate. We did not want families choosing the process that felt wrong to them simply because it cost less.

Where to Find Pet Loss Support?

Healing rarely happens in one place or through one channel. Most families find that some combination of the following helps more than any single one on its own. Professional Grief Counseling Working with a counselor who understands pet loss gives you a dedicated, judgment-free space to process your feelings at your own pace.