How much have those of you who have had a dog cremated paid for the service? Horrible topic I know, but I've just paid a vet account that included two cremations and was a bit surprised at how much they cost - £112.00 for a 'small dog, plain wooden casket' for burial and £178.00 for a 'giant dog, dark stained polished hardwood box with engraved nameplate' (Madame's ashes will go off the Co. Antrim coast into the Irish Sea with Corrib's and mine).

I think that Pepper (Yorkshire Terrier) cremation cost around $45 for a small plastic ivory box with silk roses on top in 1998. She was a tiny dog. BUT the 'company' had just started providing this service in addition to human cremations, and was still building a vet referral clientele.

Similar to a human funeral/cremation.... I suspect that the higher costs proportionately relate to whatever container/casket that is selected.

My sister had her small dog cremated and asked for her ashes in a cardboard box - that was around 50 pounds I think. It 2 years ago.

Helen

£78 for William in an engraved casket this year

Thanks Ladies. I'd never noticed the cost before, just paid it with the vet bill but it looks as if the place is on the expensive side.

hi sharon,
i think it must depend on where you live, different vets in different parts of the country charge at different rates for everything. when I had to have Sunny (GR) PTS the vet told me it would be £51.85 for a communal cremation, £148.85 for a single cremation and have ashes back, I was so upset at this thought - we had the vet come to us at home and afterwards we buried her in the garden, she now has a herb garden, with a stone angel amongst them, on top, as she used to tear up all my herbs and run around the garden with them, I sure she would approve :) julie :)

My friend just paid £150 for a wooden box with ame plate for her Dobe. It is a pet Crematorium who pick up the dog from the vets, and then do the individual cremation. The people run this service as a smal business from their semi rural home, with a summerhouse for clinets to wait in, and a garden of remebrance for those who want to bury the pets remains.

Hi Sharon,
I live in the North West of England and I paid £90.00 last December to have my aussie privately cremated and his ashes returned to me in a lovely wooden box with his name on. My vet who I have to say is ''one in a million'',arranged everything for me and I recieved a card and poem off the people who did the cremation which I thought was a nice but simple touch.
When that dreaded time comes again in the distant future, I will do the same again. I think my pets deserve the best.........
Gabrielle x

Hi Sharon, In this neck of the woods, cremation for a Wolfie, is £250. By the way, the change in Angel is totally amazing. Talk to you soon.

My Whippet cost £80, and my cat the same, for individual cremation and returned in a sealed terracotta urn. Another cat was £60 in a plastic tub with lid. I buried the terracotta pots with a tree over each 0one, and 'tipped' Midge's ashes into a hole then planted a clematis over her.

Only problem is, while I know Midge's ashes are gone now, the other two are still 'intact' in their containers, and this was one of the things which made me decide not to move. I couldn't bear the thought of digging up their ashes to take with me, but I wouldn't want anyone else digging them up and throwing them away.
Am I a bit strange, or would anyone else feel the same way??
Liz

Hi Sharon, Not dogs but 10 years ago my cat died and had a nice (but plastic) "casket" with her name on it - cost £60 then (in Pimlico).

When Puss died earlier this year we had a lovely wooden casket with her name on a plaque for £28 (Surrey). So I think it depends where you are.

Hope you are okay.

Gina xx

Alfie, I would feel the same as you. :)

Gina, can't be the cost of the container then. There seems to be massive variation across the country. I'd have thought that Scotland would be relatively cheap, but seems only Essex is more expensive. Not that I'm complaining - I get the vet to come out to the house if its at all possible, yet I've never been charged for a PTS.

Hi Sharon

I think the good things with a particular vet outshine the others. I really dont think my vets would come out to me (although I know they would for pts) but I am sure they would charge. A good vet is worth the money and after all I suppose the caskets/cremation etc are done by others who do the charging?

I never get to see the same vet twice unless I insist or make an appt well in advance which is not the case with my previous vets who were much much more expensive!

Gina

Liz, not strange at all. We've often said that we can't move because we couldn't take the animal burial plot with us.

Glad Bat Ears is doing well - give her a cuddle for me please :-).

Hi Sharon
I have just had Ambers bill today.......£78 for individual giant breed cremation & return in urn (cheapest type!) On top of that there was £60 travel (you know how far away my vets is!) and £3o something for the pts.......Mike said he would have dug a hole in the ground in the garden & sold me a bullet for 50p...but thats his warped sense of humour for you!!!

I have had 2 dogs cremated (not together) this year. the cost was £80.00 each, they were returned in lovely wooden caskets with their name engraved on brass plaques.

Mars's cremation cost £125.00 which included seperate cremation and the ashes buried in her own plot under a tree in the Pet Cemetary and a wooden plaque which we didn't go with in the end. I got an Undertaker to do a slate tablet for me which cost £275 which I know is an arm and a leg but I think she is worth it ! They had great arguements when they were doing it as I had put "Mars Bar Spensley" at the start and some of them didn't realise it was for a dog and were going to put Mrs Bar Spensley!!

When I wanted to pick it up I asked what time they were open at the weekend and Graham the chap said that they were open on Saturdays but only had a skeleton staff in !! Good job I have a sense of humour !!

Lucy

Told you Sam - Mike & Ian would get on like a house on fire :-).

i paid £135. for pts and cremation plus ashes back for afghan. its less for smaller dogs.

Pretty grim, those prices!

Unfortunately, it looks as though the proposed legislation to stop burial of fallen animals (cows, sheep, ponies etc.) on farms will prohibit the burial of pets, as well.

In my area, that means taking deceased pet over to Thurso on the ferry, having it cremated, then bringing the ashes back on the ferry, because we have no crematorium in the islands.

It does strike me as odd that animal burials are going to be restricted, whilst the rules on where a human can be buried are being relaxed! Anyone see a double standard here?

You all are such law abiding citizens!!!!! :)
Seriously, I'd have to say that when a law is stupid or doesn't apply, there's a lot of Americans AND Germans who just go on their merry way to continue doing what they've done for decades. Allthewhile they mutter about the Damn government idiots who want to interfere in things they know nothing about :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D
I'd have to wonder who would come up from London to muck about in the Orkneys to see if you've buried your dog in your back yard

Hi Sharon
Bit late picking this up I'm afraid, sorry. :O
I had Trev cremated last June and he now resides in a lovely carved wooden box with a brass nameplate, on the mantlepiece in the living room. It cost £64.00. PTS was separate as it was covered on Insurance.
Think you should Q your bill, it can't have gone up that much in a year, although you are a long way from Devon, perhaps it's linked to area?
Nicky

Hi Nicky, Madame would probably haunt me for being a cheapskate if I queried the bill :-).

LOL @ Sharon ;)

There is an extremely small mark ups on our cremation charges as the company we use charge us a fortune !!!! we make very little as I think you will find most vets, the cost that makes me laugh is for euthanasia, that starts a £40 and it prob costs around 60p !!!! I have found this at several vets when I locummed up and down the country.

I had my dog individually (guarenteed) cremated last year,
she was a Boxer and was collected from my vets by the cremation
people.
She was considered a large dog, and I had an oak casket and
an engraved plate.
Cremation and the casket £130
with £19 for collection (I had her collected from the vets as I'd had
donated her heart to Edinburgh Vet college, for breed research into heart problems, I wanted to remember her as I last saw her at the vets (she died in the night following an operation), and most importantly I think I'd have probably had an accident driving her to the cremation place as I was an emotional wreck)
I consider it worth every penny, especially knowing that I have only
my dogs ashes in her casket.
I can thoroughly reccommend where I had my girl cremated, she
was done at Dignity, Hartley Witney, Hampshire. The people there are so understanding and really do spend the time with you, which makes things
alittle easier.

Well personally I'm lucky- being quite young and just getting started with the world of *doggies*:) I haven't had to go through this yet but I'd just like to say that I thought what Marie did with one of her dog's ashes was wonderful, for those who don't know she spread them on the ground that the dog became a Champion:) This really made me cry- I think that *when the time comes*- long way away yet- I would like to do something to this effect- either on a show ground (if we ever manage to do any:rolleyes: ) or a favourite walking place:) I also think that having the vet out for pts is a lovely idea:)

Stacey x x x

Stacey, That was a nice touch of Marie's :-). Having the vet out is harder in some ways. Waiting for him to come, and knowing what he's going to do is horrible. But I think its kinder and easier if the thing is done at home and I usually feel a little better if the dog is PTS at home than if it happens unavoidably at the vets.

The firm my vets use also collect from the surgery and guarantee individual cremation (both included in the cost). I'm like you, and couldn't cope with taking the dog to the crematorium. When the vet puts a dog to sleep at home, he takes the body with him for collection. The vets usually drop the ashes off too which is just as well as I couldn't even manage that safely on the one occassion I did it, and drove home blind with tears. I've never had any direct contact with the firm that does the cremation, and it must be nice for you to feel that everything was done with care. If the money mattered that much I could have it done for nothing at an animal laboratory a few miles away. Sometimes I think its silly and sentimental not to, but I don't think I could ever bring myself not to be silly and sentimental about this. So I'm not complaining about the cost and was just curious about what other people paid.