My beloved moggy, Oxley, passed away nearly 2 weeks ago. I wrote about his battle and his passing on these forums.
When I first heard about taxidermy two years ago, I was very sure that was what I wanted done for my beloved moggy, Oxley when he passed (which I hoped was a long time into the future). I love him so much that I want part of his physical presence with me, even if it's really only just his fur, nose and ears. Anything is better than nothing. I wanted a 3D memorial of how he used to look like. Four days before he passed, I managed to find a taxidermist that has done work in museums and zoos, and on cats as well. It's very hard to find taxidermists in our country and it turns out he was one of the best. My mum spoke with him and he was very professional and very respectful. We handed Oxley's body over to him the day after he passed, and passed him photos of what he looked like in life, and told him about his personality
Now after I've done it, I'm starting to second-guess myself. For years when my moggy was alive I was so sure that taxidermy was the way that I wanted to remember him by but now, I keep reading comments and articles saying it's helluva creepy and disrespectful to the memory of your pet and your pet won't look the same. I've already done it and soon the taxidermist will call us in as he'll be doing a 'major adjustment' and he wants us to come in and see so we can tell him how Oxley should look like. I'm dreading going as I'm afraid my moggy won't look the same and I'll just feel sad and disturbed.
Did I do the wrong thing by wanting him preserved? Did I sully his memory by doing it?
I feel so confused now
When I first heard about taxidermy two years ago, I was very sure that was what I wanted done for my beloved moggy, Oxley when he passed (which I hoped was a long time into the future). I love him so much that I want part of his physical presence with me, even if it's really only just his fur, nose and ears. Anything is better than nothing. I wanted a 3D memorial of how he used to look like. Four days before he passed, I managed to find a taxidermist that has done work in museums and zoos, and on cats as well. It's very hard to find taxidermists in our country and it turns out he was one of the best. My mum spoke with him and he was very professional and very respectful. We handed Oxley's body over to him the day after he passed, and passed him photos of what he looked like in life, and told him about his personality
Now after I've done it, I'm starting to second-guess myself. For years when my moggy was alive I was so sure that taxidermy was the way that I wanted to remember him by but now, I keep reading comments and articles saying it's helluva creepy and disrespectful to the memory of your pet and your pet won't look the same. I've already done it and soon the taxidermist will call us in as he'll be doing a 'major adjustment' and he wants us to come in and see so we can tell him how Oxley should look like. I'm dreading going as I'm afraid my moggy won't look the same and I'll just feel sad and disturbed.
Did I do the wrong thing by wanting him preserved? Did I sully his memory by doing it?
I feel so confused now
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that you can be at peace with everything.
Please keep us updated 
im sorry that Oxley doesn't look the same, but i am glad you found a way to view him in a different angle that he looks the same to you. I find a similar occurring with the photos that i took of both of my cats who have passed this year, and when i look back at them different angles of the photos make them look like a different cat. I guess it is all about perception of what we believe we see, remember how we see it, and also what our mind likes to see, then after not seeing the same image for a long time in physical presence we see something a little different. 
