The annual Qingming Festival is a time when we remember and honor our deceased loved ones. As society progresses, the consciousness of companion animals has deeply integrated into our lifestyle. Cats and dogs typically have a lifespan of up to 15 years, accompanying us through a phase of our lives. We often say that their entire life revolves around you, while your life can encompass countless of them. If you have cherished memories of a pet, how do you reminisce about the one who once accompanied you and considered you as their only family on this rainy day?
01 Various Funerals
Some pet owners hold solemn ceremonies to mourn their pets, as a way to comfort the years of companionship and to have a place to visit when they miss them. Traditional burial is the most common method of handling the body, where a tombstone can be erected and flowers planted. Although this grand farewell ceremony cannot alleviate much sorrow, it provides a place for pet owners to express their remembrance.
Tree burial symbolizes the transformation of pets into trees, continuing their existence in another form. By burying pets under trees, their remains serve as nourishment for the growth of the trees. These two methods are widely accepted to avoid environmental issues and disease transmission. It is recommended to first cremate the pet’s body, and then use the ashes for traditional and tree burials, ensuring no impact on the environment.
02 Felt Memorials
This method of commemorating pets is also common and has become a popular trend in recent years. By collecting some of the pet’s fur before their passing and creating a felt accessory that resembles the deceased pet, either by oneself or through services like Taobao, it serves as a replacement for the pet’s companionship. Whenever pet owners miss their felt creation, it feels as if they have never left. However, the price for felt making on Taobao seems a bit expensive. Pet owners with time and crafting skills may consider making it themselves. Creating more felt toys while the pet is alive can also leave more beautiful memories, considering the daily fur production.
03 Taxidermy
Such practices are most popular in the United States, where Americans traditionally made specimens of their hunted game. This has now evolved into preserving deceased pets as specimens, with specialized companies offering these services. For pets weighing 4.5 kilograms or less, the fee is $850, which is approximately 5800 RMB. For every additional pound in weight, the price increases by $40.
04 Cremation Diamonds
Few pet owners in China may choose this method to keep their pets close, but many abroad have adopted this practice.
Of course, this production method is actually very expensive. Mainly, through machines, the carbon elements in the ashes are integrated into a carbon molecular structure with the same structure as a diamond. After being inlaid by workers, it becomes an ashes diamond. People familiar with diamonds know that the language of diamonds is eternity.
This also symbolizes that the beautiful memories left by this cat to the cat litter cleaner are always there and never leave. When the cat litter cleaner hangs the ring on the neck, it means that this memory is always in the place closest to the heart and always beats with the cat litter cleaner’s heartbeat. And the cat litter cleaner also has more motivation for life because of the presence of pets.
Parting is always sad. No one is born to like this emotion. But I believe that after some things leave, they will return in another way. I also hope that the cat litter cleaner believes this. Although one’s own cat cannot speak, love actually does not need words. Please accompany each other well in the remaining days. Time will prove that the end point of love is never the node of life.
