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Getting Ashes back after cremation....

charlie82

Mama Doe
:cry:
I just wondered how this works for other people?
I just got Thumpers ashes back tonight and got a little bit of a shock.... they were given to me in a clear plastic bag inside a cardboard box (albeit a nice box) but I'm a little shocked by it. It cost £100 and I wasn't asked if I wanted a casket by the veterinary staff so I just assumed one was included. (the usual pet crematorium gives them back in a personalised casket/urn/burial stone and it costs less). I wish I had asked at the time when I paid for the cremation as I wasn't expecting to open a box and see his ashes and it has upset me. :cry:
 
I'm so sorry :cry: That must have been a real shock and very insensitive of them - they could at least have warned you.

I've had quite a few pets cremated now :( and every time they've come back in a wooden casket with a plaque with their name on.

Which company did the cremation?

So sorry. Hugs to you xx
 
I'm so sorry :cry: That must have been a real shock and very insensitive of them - they could at least have warned you.

I've had quite a few pets cremated now :( and every time they've come back in a wooden casket with a plaque with their name on.

Which company did the cremation?

So sorry. Hugs to you xx


Thank you... It really shocked me to see them. The vets themselves are a large chain, and they used a large chain cremation service called CPC Cares.... On the website it says they offer caskets/urns etc but I was not asked whether I wanted one. I understand some people would just want the ashes back so they can scatter them, but I just assumed with the cost a casket would be included. :( I would even have paid more to have one had I known.
 
:shock: Hi Angela, Too be honest id have been really upset too, to have got the ashes back in a plastic bag.Think i paid around £90 and got a small wooden casket for Billy's.No wonder your upset, bad enough losing Thumper can you go back and ask why, Thumpers ashes arent encased as its really distressing.Deb.xxx Our vet uses Swanpit pet crematorium.x
 
:shock: Hi Angela, Too be honest id have been really upset too, to have got the ashes back in a plastic bag.Think i paid around £90 and got a small wooden casket for Billy's.No wonder your upset, bad enough losing Thumper can you go back and ask why, Thumpers ashes arent encased as its really distressing.Deb.xxx


Hi Debbie,

Yeah I'm a bit surprised... I'd have taken him to the local pet crematorium myself had I known. I have e-mailed the company to ask if it is usual procedure or a lack of communication on someone's part. Wasn't looking forward to picking them up as it was xx
 
Thank you... It really shocked me to see them. The vets themselves are a large chain, and they used a large chain cremation service called CPC Cares.... On the website it says they offer caskets/urns etc but I was not asked whether I wanted one. I understand some people would just want the ashes back so they can scatter them, but I just assumed with the cost a casket would be included. :( I would even have paid more to have one had I known.

Can you go back and explain that or would it be too upsetting? I understand completely - I've never wanted to scatter the ashes I have - I have kept all mine as they came back to me, and Harvey my precious bun I lost last year, is on my bedside cabinet so I can reach out and touch him.

Maybe if they know how upset you are they might offer to put Thumper in a casket, especially as they didn't even ask or say how he'd come back. I really really feel for you - I know how upsetting it is fetching them back and how it brings it all back again - so I can't imagine how much more upsetting it must have been for you to see that.
 
Can you go back and explain that or would it be too upsetting? I understand completely - I've never wanted to scatter the ashes I have - I have kept all mine as they came back to me, and Harvey my precious bun I lost last year, is on my bedside cabinet so I can reach out and touch him.

Maybe if they know how upset you are they might offer to put Thumper in a casket, especially as they didn't even ask or say how he'd come back. I really really feel for you - I know how upsetting it is fetching them back and how it brings it all back again - so I can't imagine how much more upsetting it must have been for you to see that.

I've sent an email to the actual company... and I'm going to have a word with my friend about it (she's my vet at that practice), as I think she is ringing me over the weekend. I'm going to suggest that if a casket costs more the receptionist/nurse should tell the client that as I was upset to open the box and see all that was left of my boy. I know some people might think it is morbid keeping their ashes but like you say it helps... I have my soul buns on my drawers in my bedroom... I was going to put Thumper next to her :(. If it is the company's standard procedure then I shall inform them that it is actually quite cold, clinical and unsympathetic.
 
I've sent an email to the actual company... and I'm going to have a word with my friend about it (she's my vet at that practice), as I think she is ringing me over the weekend. I'm going to suggest that if a casket costs more the receptionist/nurse should tell the client that as I was upset to open the box and see all that was left of my boy. I know some people might think it is morbid keeping their ashes but like you say it helps... I have my soul buns on my drawers in my bedroom... I was going to put Thumper next to her :(. If it is the company's standard procedure then I shall inform them that it is actually quite cold, clinical and unsympathetic.

It is very very unsympathetic. However much you want them back, seeing the cold reality at a time when you're so upset is terrible. I really hope they give you a casket.

I get great comfort from having my much-loved pets back with me - I know people do think it's odd, but when they've been such a huge and important part of your life, it's only natural you want to keep them. I have three cats and one bunny on a table in the living room, my special guinea pig on the window sill of the room he lived in, and my precious Harvey, who was my heart bun, very close to me when I'm in bed.

I'm really shocked that they could do something like that.
 
It is very very unsympathetic. However much you want them back, seeing the cold reality at a time when you're so upset is terrible. I really hope they give you a casket.

I get great comfort from having my much-loved pets back with me - I know people do think it's odd, but when they've been such a huge and important part of your life, it's only natural you want to keep them. I have three cats and one bunny on a table in the living room, my special guinea pig on the window sill of the room he lived in, and my precious Harvey, who was my heart bun, very close to me when I'm in bed.

I'm really shocked that they could do something like that.

I completely agree... I couldn't bring myself to bury them as I like the idea that I can take them with me wherever. I know they are gone and accept that, but having a part of them near is comforting. Either way I'll get a casket for poor Thumper :cry: I think these large chain companies are more about profit. The local pet crematorium is very personal and sympathetic, I don't know why my vets don't use them....then again since they are profit based too, they are probably thinking with their pockets.
 
I completely agree... I couldn't bring myself to bury them as I like the idea that I can take them with me wherever. I know they are gone and accept that, but having a part of them near is comforting. Either way I'll get a casket for poor Thumper :cry: I think these large chain companies are more about profit. The local pet crematorium is very personal and sympathetic, I don't know why my vets don't use them....then again since they are profit based too, they are probably thinking with their pockets.

They should still have made sure you knew what you were getting though, as it's a shocking way to find out. And if you'd not got other precious pets in their caskets, you would think what you got was normal and it'd be a real upset to find out that way. Either way not a very nice thing to do someone who is grieving.
 
Hi i read this thread and i too am shocked. I remembered a website though, if you would like to buy a seperate cremation box they do lovely wooden boxes with the picture of the animal you have lost engraved on the lid. They are really beautiful and it may make you feel better about this nasty incident.

http://www.fuzzbutt.co.uk/index.php?cPath=3_35&osCsid=c7206917cce4bde2063e0a864999d001

You have to email the person as they only have this advertised through this site :) They do it for all different animals, the box with the rat is just an example.

I thought this could be making something good out of a bad situation.

xxx
 
They should still have made sure you knew what you were getting though, as it's a shocking way to find out. And if you'd not got other precious pets in their caskets, you would think what you got was normal and it'd be a real upset to find out that way. Either way not a very nice thing to do someone who is grieving.

Yeah I agree.... I'm not sure if it's the nurse/receptionist that should have asked. She asked if I wanted a cremation and I said yes, to which she was surprised at... she then asked if I wanted him done individually. She seemed a little surprised by the price so I'm assuming no one else has had their bunny done (they are a newish practice). I just didn't think to ask about a casket, although it was going through my head because my old vet gives you the leaflet to look at... I assumed because the cost was similar (a little more) that a casket would be included.
 
Hi i read this thread and i too am shocked. I remembered a website though, if you would like to buy a seperate cremation box they do lovely wooden boxes with the picture of the animal you have lost engraved on the lid. They are really beautiful and it may make you feel better about this nasty incident.

http://www.fuzzbutt.co.uk/index.php?cPath=3_35&osCsid=c7206917cce4bde2063e0a864999d001

You have to email the person as they only have this advertised through this site :) They do it for all different animals, the box with the rat is just an example.

I thought this could be making something good out of a bad situation.

xxx

Thank you! I'll take a look at that site...I will definitely get a casket to put him in.
 
Which cremation place did he go too? i think they have made a mistake i payed £100 or more for mine they have come back in a little pot urn,i didnt ask for it thats just what came,I remember when i got Claudes though it had no packaging around the urn, i was unhappy cause it could of easly broke,id be intrested to see if its the same company?
 
Usually the procedure is the ash in a plastic bag, the bag wrap in a non-transparent piece of cloth, then in a wooden box. It's not usual to put it in a cardboard box.

And for the above I paid about $200 or so
 
My bun was cremated by the same company yours was , it cost what you paid and I got Sox back in a wooden casket with a name plaque?
 
Hi I've just read this. I had Little Ernie cremated about a month ago and it cost me £40. I wanted to scatter his ashes and they came back in a sealed tube-type box that had a lovely cover with trees over it. To scatter him, I just had to push in the top and tip his ashes out.

This is a new container for them and it can be kept or buried as it is.... much more eco-friendly than the white tubs they used to use. I've never heard of putting the ashes in a plastic bag! oh how awful!:( It's a bad time anyway but to end up in a plastic bag!

£100 is a bit steep too - they're only little.

My lovelies are at the bottom of the garden and I have (sadly increasing) a number of little animals marking the spot.

Bobbin
 
My pony came back in a bin liner inside a cardboard box. I guess its a bit different for them though....so big!! We got a wooden casket type thing with her shoes and her forlock in it though which I thought was quite nice. Had her name on it too with her date of birth and the day she died. She then spent the next 6 years alternately under mine or my mums bed....we finally scattered her 2 weeks ago. Was horrible.
My heart really goes out to you hon and I hope you manage to get something beautiful to be his final resting place. *hugs*
 
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