For more and more Americans, Rover is a part of the family. He sleeps with us, eats with us, hangs out with us, listens to our troubles, and is always there. When he dies, we grieve and we want his remains to be treated with respect and dignity.

What are my options for final arrangements?

You have basically two options: burial and cremation, the same as those for humans. Unlike with Grandpa, you could bury Rover in the back yard or sneak his remains into the nearest forest, but the latter is illegal. For the purposes of this article, we will assume you have chosen cremation.

How do I find out who does cremation and how much does it cost?

You can check the yellow pages of your phone book or go online, but your best bet is your own vet. She has been through this many times and can recommend a reputable pet crematorium.

Once at the crematorium you will find you have several options. It is best if you know a little about them in advance so that you are not pressured into the most expensive. A few crematoriums have a special service where you are allowed to be present and can even push the button to get the fires started. This starts around $500 and most people are not comfortable with this option. The next is the certified private cremation. This means that your pet is the only one being cremated at that time and you will be given his ashes. This costs from $165 to $350 dollars. The third option is to have Rover cremated along with other pets, but with each pet in a separate slot thus allowing recovery of individual ashes. Costs range from $90 to $250. The last option is a group cremation where the pets are all together. No ashes can be recovered.