The Colorado State Veterinary Teaching Hospital suggests the following ways to memorialize a pet:
- Take lots of photos and put them in an album, your pet's favorite spot in the house, even in your wallet
- Write a poem, story, song, etc., about and/or dedicated to your pet
- Write down or tape special memories of the pet, either your own or others'
- Write a letter to your pet expressing your feelings over the loss
- Make something that reminds you of the pet, a drawing, clay sculpture, needlework, etc.
- Have a professional portrait, sketch or sculpture done of the pet from a photograph, or have a photo of the pet put on a T-shirt, clock, button or mug
- Keep the pet tags on your keychain
- Have a plaque made in the pet's honor and put in in a special place - the burial spot, in the pet hospital that cared for him, etc.
- Donate money or time to an animal welfare organization in memory of the pet
- Plant a bush, shrub, tree or flowers over the grave
- Put ashes in a potted house plant, or scatter them in a place that was special to the animal
