Whether they were your companion for one year or 20 years, the death of a beloved pet can leave a big hole in your life. If you feel like the incredible effect that animal or bird had on your life needs to be commemorated in a bigger way than just in your own thoughts, then there are several ways you can do this.
As your pet was likely to have been a unique character with their own likes, dislikes, and personality foibles, you are likely to want some interesting or unique ways to mark their passing. With that in mind, here are some interesting takes on ways to commemorate their lives.
#1 Create their ‘life story’ scrapbook or memory box
In this day and age, it is almost impossible that you do not have tens, or more likely hundreds, of photos of your pet. You will also have other items that played a significant part in their life, like a favorite toy or collar or vaccination records if your pet was one of those that needed them. You can use these materials to create a scrapbook or gather them together in a special box that will have pride of place in your house.
#2 Create an outdoor memorial
While a plaque on a bench is a common sight in a park to remember humans, having one for your pet would turn a few heads and underline your love for them. Alternatively, the traditional tribute of planting a tree in one of their favorite locations could be replaced by having a specially engraved brick added to the construction of a new animal shelter or local community building where your pet would be remembered for years to come.
#3 Set up an online tribute
While the first couple of ideas might be more costly options, this last one comes very cheaply indeed. Setting up an online memorial on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest to a pet who has passed has the potential to be more than an online scrapbook or memory box. Not only can others who knew you or your pet add their own memories and photos, but by using hashtags effectively (i.e., #catsofinstagram), others might come across the story of your pet as well.
To wrap things up
The passing of a loved pet is a significant event that you might believe deserves some sort of recognition. There are many established ways of doing this, but creating a scrapbook or adding their name to a new building or bench, or even creating an online tribute to them that others can contribute to can all be unique ways of remembering their lives.
With the amount of feeling we have for our pets, however, it might be that you want to do more than one or even all of these things, like creating a fundraiser on the online memorial page to generate the cash for a contribution to an animal-related charity you have an affection for.