He's about 13 now, and I believe cockatiels only live to be 15 at the most... I don't think my landlord would like it if we buried him in the back yard.

And mom said take him to the taxidermy and get him stuffed and put him back in the cage ! O_O !!

Do you have a favorite park where you could burry him? Some vet type places do pet cremation...I'm not sure how exspensive that is though.

That's a good question. Unfortunately I don't know. I sometimes wonder what I will do with my cat when he passes away. I live in a city with no yard so it's not like I have a place to bury him. I would like to bury him in my parents yard but what would I do with him until I could get there? It's a morbid thought but unfortunately it's something we have to deal with as part of life.

Is there such a thing as a pet cemetery?

Veterinary offices will be able to offer you or direct you to cremation services for pets.

In most cities/towns, it is illegal to bury pets in a yard or park. Even if you own your backyard, it can be illegal.

My dog isn't even a year old, but I'm completely in love with him. I just got my certificate in Thanatology, so I've had to do a lot of projects revolving around death, including planning my own funeral. This has made me think of what I'm going to do when my Zeus passes on. I'm thinking cremation and I'd probably keep him in an Urn or scatter his ashes somewhere, like on a favorite trail we like to hike.

I'm a vet tech, and you can check with your vet to see what services they have available for pet cremation, wether it is a bird, dog, cat, hamster, etc they will direct you to the right place if they can not take the body themselves. As already stated, most cities/towns have rules against animals being buried, but you can always check first. Otherwise, I've suggested to families with cabins (most dogs love to be at the cabin) to get the pet's ashes returned to them and then scattered at the cabin (or along a favorite trail or park). For birds and other pocket pets, I don't think I've seen any requests for their ashes back... most families just cremate them or go ahead and bury them anyway.

Yes, that's what I was going to say. Most vets do offer cremation. My parakeet passed away at the vet's office a few weeks ago. He had a heart attack when the vet clipped his toe nails and grinded his beak. The veterinary was an older man, and he said that was the second time that happened to him with a parakeet. Anyway, I didn't have to pay for the beak and toenail grinding, but they tried to talk me into paying for cremation. I just took him home and buried him.

But if burying isn't possible for you cremation might be the best way to go. Oh, is there a pet cemetery near where you live? Some cities have them, and you can bury pets there. I think it might be expensive, though?

When my beloved cat died at 14 yrs old. We let the vet take care of it. In our area you can't bury anything in your yard so the only other thing we could have done it put in the trash and I couldn't to that. We didn't ask what she was going to do. We were still in tears because we thougt he was getting better but when the vet went to euthanaize our baby the sedative shot was all that was needed. Dang, it's been 8 years and I've got tears in my eyes just typing this.

It's probably better to figure out what to do before you need to do it. We wound up paying ~$80 for bulk creamation where we didn't get the ashes back. Primarily because we were both so upset about the loss of our kitty we didn't really want to think about it.

I recently worked at a vet ER - and had to bill people for this stuff all the time. For exotics like a bird, I know here they charge around 80 dollars for a private cremation, and it's around half of that for a mass cremation, where you don't get the ashes back.

You could also get his ashes turned in to jewelry if you're super attached to him. Or have the ashes added to paint in a portrait of him.

And if you can't bury him right away, but would want to - you can freeze him. The vet clinic might be able to store him for you for a small fee if you don't want to do it yourself. (That's what we have to do with a lot of pets up here because of the permafrost. Freeze them until the spring..)


ETA: We recently had a lady so obsessed with her dog that the idea of cremating, burying, or stuffing it just sickened her - so she pre-paid some freeze drying place like $3000 dollars, in the event that her dog dies so she could mail it directly to them and have them freeze-dry it over a period of like six months. I think if I were to go that far, I would get my dog bronzed, haha.

when my hamster died, i buried him by a tree. since its a small animal check the laws in your area and see if a freind or relative will donate a small portion of garden.

I buried my dog in my backyard last June. I'm so glad he's there! I planted a tree on top of him as well.

At the vet, we had the choice of a private cremation or a mass cremation. Mass cremation was the cheapest, around $30. I immediately threw that option out because my dog didn't like other dogs so there's no way I could have him cremated with them! LOL. My husband really wanted to do a private cremation because the burial freaked him out. In the end, I chose burial and did it myself. I love looking out my kitchen window and seeing his tree out there.