Summary
- Contact cremation as soon as possible
- Choose individual or communal cremation
- Cool the body immediately
- Avoid handling body where possible
- Expect unpleasant bodily changes after death
- Choose the memorial options: urns, headstones, portraits
- Utilise grief support resource
What Immediate Steps Should I Take After My Cat Dies at Home?
If your cat dies unexpectedly at home, it can be difficult to know exactly what to do. For many of us, it's important as a first step to take a few minutes just to be with our pet, in order to say goodbye. After this, it's essential to contact a pet cremation or burial service quickly. Let's take a look at why.
Deciding Whether to Stay With Your Pet or Arrange Immediate Collection
After spending some time with your cat, you need to arrange the transportation of their body to a cremation or burial service. This is because after just a few hours the decomposition process will already be underway, and you will start to experience unpleasant changes to your cat body and foul smells. Once decomposition has begun, your pet's body also becomes dangerous to human health if it isn't carefully managed.
How Long Can You Stay with Your Pet's Body?
It's best for your cat's body to be collected by a cremation or burial service as soon as possible after they have passed, to minimise unpleasant and potentially dangerous changes from occurring whilst the body is still in your home.
If you're able to keep your pet's body cold ideally at fridge temperature, then you can delay collection of their body for up to 24 hours. If you are not able to keep their body cold, then collection should take place within a few hours of death.
How Can I Safely Handle my Pet's Body
If it's possible, you should avoid handling your cat's body once they have passed away, especially after the first hour or two. This is because once an individual is deceased microbes multiply at a dramatic rate.
These microbes pose a risk to the health and safety of anyone handling the body, unless precautionary measures are carefully followed.
If you can't avoid handling your cat's body, you should wear thick, waterproof gloves (for example, kitchen gloves) and ideally waterproof overalls too. These items should be disposed of in a sanitary manner after use.
Understanding the Natural Responses to Expect Immediately After Death
There are a number of normal things that should be expected immediately after a pet has passed. Following death, all of your cat's muscles will relax, and this may cause emptying of the bladder or bowels. Since their facial muscles will also relax, it may appear that your cat's eyes have opened wider and unfortunately it can be difficult to close your pet's eyes (which is a natural thing to want). Please try not to worry or be upset if your cat's eyes won't close.
As energy leaves your cat's cells, skin and muscle twitches may occur. After a few hours, your pet's body will become stiff (a process we call rigour mortis), and then eventually soft again after 1-2 days.
It's also possible that during (or up to a few minutes after) death your cat might appear to take a few deep, gasping breaths. This is called agonal gasping and is a common process to witness. You should try not to be alarmed.
Arranging for Pet Cremation or Burial
Drop-off or Collection Services
Where possible, it's best to arrange for your selected cremation or burial service to collect your pet's body. Collection agents are trained and experienced when it comes to handling deceased pets with care and dignity whilst ensuring human health and safety. Arranging a collection is also practically easier and more emotionally forgiving than transporting your cat's body yourself.
Transporting Your Pet's Body Safely
If you are unable to arrange a collection there are precautionary measures to follow. For starters, you should wear waterproof gloves and an apron or overalls to handle your pet's body. If you need to transport your cat's body in a vehicle, you should place them in a waterproof container such as a plastic storage box. Everything that touches the body (gloves, overalls and the box) should be disposed of after use.
How Cat Cremation Works
Cremation ensures remains are sterile and safe to handle, whilst preserving the dignity of your departed feline family member. During the individual cremation process, your pet's body will be placed in a cremation chamber which reaches extremely high temperatures. Your cat will be cremated separately, ensuring their ashes are kept individual and can be returned to you.
At the end of the individual cremation process, their body has become ash and bone fragments. Large bone fragments are then further reduced, and the ashes are carefully collected and prepared for return to you.
Individual Cremation Service
We exclusively offer individual cremation services for cats, ensuring your beloved companion is cremated separately with the utmost care and respect. This means your cat's ashes will be returned to you individually, allowing you to honor their memory in a personal and meaningful way. The cost of individual cremation reflects our commitment to providing this dedicated service, ensuring your cat receives the dignity they deserve in their final journey.
Individual vs. Communal Cremation
If you decide to have your cat cremated after they have passed, you'll need to choose between individual or communal cremation. Typically, communal cremation is the cheaper option, and in this case your cat will be cremated along with other pets. This means it won't be possible for you to keep their ashes.
On the other hand, should you choose individual cremation, your cat will be cremated on their own, meaning you can have their ashes returned to you. Individual cremation costs more than communal cremation due to the fact that a cremation chamber is being used - and the cremation process carried out - exclusively for your pet.
What Options Are Available to Memorialise My Cat?
Many options are available for memorialising your cat, depending upon your personal preference and your budget. If you decide on individual cremation for your cat then their ashes can be returned to you in a scatter tube, urn or casket. If you choose to have your cat buried in a pet cemetery rather than cremated, you can select a headstone or small statue to have erected in their memory.
Other options to memorialise your cat include memorial jewellery or even commissioning an artist to create a custom portrait or painting of your cat based on a photograph.
Custom Memorials and Keepsakes to Cherish Your Pet's Memory
It's usually possible to have urns, caskets and keepsakes personalised to your pet. For example, you may choose to have your cat's ashes returned in a casket with a personalised plaque. Headstones can also be personalised with your cat's name, birth and death dates, and a short message that reflects the bond you had with them.
Coping with the Grief of Losing a Cat
Understanding the Grieving Process
The bond you shared with your cat was unique and so your emotional journey following their death will also be unique to you. Always remember that there is no "wrong" way to feel after the death of a loved one, human, canine or feline.
Common feelings that you will likely experience include intense sadness and longing; guilt at being unable to prevent your pet from passing; denial or feelings that your loved one can't truly be gone; and even anger. All of this is normal and natural.
Each of us is different, and each of us experiences grief differently, but most people find that they have made significant progress in processing the loss of a loved one after 12-24 months.
Support Resources and Groups
In the UK, the Blue Cross offers free and easily accessible support to help you process the loss of your cat. Support can be accessed through a confidential helpline, live webchat, email or via a dedicated Facebook group. Access these services here.
The Cat's Protection also runs a free, confidential phone line allowing you to talk through your grieving experience with a trained volunteer. This line is open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday and can be accessed by calling 0800 024 94 94. Alternatively you can contact the Cat's Protection Paw to Listen grief support service by submitting a request here.
