As children, so many Americans were told white lies about the family pet after he or she passed on. Perhaps your parents told you about the magical farm where the dog went to live, happily ever after. As adults, many animal lovers will say goodbye to their four-legged companion once more, but without any pleasant lies to soften the blow of grief. 

The hard truth is that your parents took the family pet to a veterinarian or animal hospital and had them put to sleep, and afterwards the remains were most likely cremated. The National Funeral Directors Association believes that 56% of U.S. human deaths will result in cremation by 2017, but cremation has long been standard for pets. And increasingly, U.S. pet owners are choosing to purchase animal urns for ashes after a pet dies, rather than saying goodbye forever.

Memorial keepsakes like animal urns for ashes will never be able to fill the hole a pet leaves behind, but the best sympathy gifts can help pay tribute to a loyal friend.

Can I Keep The Ashes After My Pet Is Cremated?
Animal hospitals and veterinary clinics will almost certainly be able to accommodate you if you would like to receive your pet's remains. If a pet dies at home, then you might have to contact local resources to find someone to take the body. Remember to ask for the ashes beforehand, otherwise it might be too late.

How Can I Find Animal Urns For Ashes? What Size Urn Do I Need For A Dog Or Cat?
Pet owners can find a huge variety of animal urns for ashes online, as well as other cremation keepsakes designed to hold a tiny portion of ashes. If you're wondering what size urn to purchase, then here's a good rule of thumb: a pet that weighed 50 pounds would require an urn that holds 50 cubic inches.

In addition to animal urns for ashes, you can also find special keepsakes for ashes online, such as cremation ash jewelry. Titanium cremation jewelry, urn pendants, cremation necklaces, and other types of memorial keepsakes hold a small portion of your pet's ashes -- less than a quarter of a cubic inch.

What Do People Do With Pet Ashes?
Once you transfer an animal's remains into pet urns for ashes, there are three popular ways to memorialize them. First, you can bury your pet in biodegradable cremation urns. Lay your pet to rest in a garden or special corner of your yard, so your blooming flowers always remind you of happier times. You can also purchase scattering urns designed to help pet owners spread ashes at a special place, like your favorite place to go walking together. Finally, many pet owners choose to display animal urns for ashes in their home, so their pet never has to leave their side again.

American author John Updike wrote a famous poem about the passing of the family dog, called "Dog's Death." The moving poem deserves to be read in its entirety, as it perfectly captures the helpless sadness so many of us will experience when a pet falls ill or dies. Updike concludes the poem with two simple words, so often the last words a pet hears before they go to sleep for the last time.