Today my boyfriend Josh and I cremated our sweet little Pelusa. I wanted to share some photos and info about how it went for future reference of anyone else considering doing your own cremation.
First, a little background information.
Our little kitty was a travelling kitty. We found her in Quito, Ecuador and she'd been travelling with us since she was 3 weeks old, when we found her. When she died she was almost 6 months old.
A few nights ago Pelusa consumed something, somwhere that was poisonous, and she died fairly instantly.
A more detailed account of Pelusa's life and death is here.
Since Pelusa was a travelling cat, and the town we're in is not particularly special we wanted to get her cremated so she could come with us on the rest of the trip. We called all the vets and Funeral homes in town (even stopping by the graveyard) only to discover that cremation services are NOT offered in the town we're in OR the neighboring town. We'd have to go to Lima (a few days drive) if we wanted it done, and even then we'd have to try and convince a human cremator to do our cat.
My boyfriend's uncle cremated his own cat once a few years before, so we figured there must be a way. After alot of brainstorming we came up with a few ideas and decided it was worth a try. If it failed, we'd have to bury her and leave her here anyways. Both my boyfriend and I felt that if we buried her here it would feel like leaving her behind.
We figured we'd need something that would burn quite hot, and Josh knew of a particular fertilizer (Potassium Nitrate) that he'd used to make smokebombs out of as a kid, which burned really hot.
So we got two flower pots, some Potassium Nitrate, ALOT of firewood, and some gasoline and set off to a desolate stretch of beach.
Our original plan was to sort of have Pelusa in the pot under the fire along with some Potassium Nitrate to make sure she burned properly and was fully contained (it was our worst nightmare to think we'd discover only part of her had succesfully burnt.. ack!) but in the end things changed a bit.
So, we dug a hole on the beach where we first put a layer of Potassium Nitrate, then five large hardwood logs since they burn at quite a high temperature. On top of that we put a ceramic plate (since all flower pots have holes in the bottom) and the two flower pots (one on top of the other so that it was sealed inside) inside the flower pots was Pelusa, her favourite sweater, and her favourite little ball.. with a bit of gasoline to ensure the fire would start burning there.
Unfortunatly I forgot to take photos of the actual setup before the fire started.
After the pots we put on a few layers of wood, doused the whole thing in Gasoline and set it ablaze.
Unfortunatly the flower pots broke almost instantly and there was not along we could do about keeping her ashes properly contained.
We let the fire burn for quite awhile and threw in a few handfuls of Potassium Nitrate here and there. After a few hours the fire had died down and we were sure she was cremated succesfully.
Unfortunatly since the pots broke her ashes were not properly contained. We spent another few hours digging through the fire put finding bits of ash where we new she'd been burning and a few bits of bone. We put her in the little urn we'd bought for her and crushed it up to have a bit more "ashy" a texture.
It was certainly a very personal way to see your cat go, especially searching through the fire pit and finding little bits of bone to keep. I do not regret doing it, and I'm happy that we definitely have some of her to carry along with us. We did the best we could (considering we're NOT professionals) and managed to get her cremated to take along with us.
For future reference, I would reccommend the following things:
- Do not put flammables inside the pots with the kitty! I'm sure this is the reason the pots broke so instantly. Let the fire work it's way in on it's own.
- I would think maybe building sort of a mini brick oven with proper ventilation so the fire can get in and the smoke can get out would be a good idea.
- When using Potassium Nitrate, be careful since it will sometimes harden instead of all burning off (leaving it stuck to some stuff!)
If anyone is ever considering a home cremation I am happy to answer any questions you might have about the process. I guarantee it is not at all horrifying (you don't see any flaming kitty and there's really no smell) and rather it's quite a personal way to see your cat off. I am not an expert, and our attempt was by no means perfect, but she was cremated nonetheless in a place where cremation opportunities are scarce (latin america is mostly catholic.)
I know that some people may find it strange or disrespectful but it wasn't that way at all. I am very happy we did it, and I know she would've been happy at the great effort we put in to honouring her death and making sure she comes with us for the rest of the trip.
First, a little background information.
Our little kitty was a travelling kitty. We found her in Quito, Ecuador and she'd been travelling with us since she was 3 weeks old, when we found her. When she died she was almost 6 months old.
A few nights ago Pelusa consumed something, somwhere that was poisonous, and she died fairly instantly.
A more detailed account of Pelusa's life and death is here.
Since Pelusa was a travelling cat, and the town we're in is not particularly special we wanted to get her cremated so she could come with us on the rest of the trip. We called all the vets and Funeral homes in town (even stopping by the graveyard) only to discover that cremation services are NOT offered in the town we're in OR the neighboring town. We'd have to go to Lima (a few days drive) if we wanted it done, and even then we'd have to try and convince a human cremator to do our cat.
My boyfriend's uncle cremated his own cat once a few years before, so we figured there must be a way. After alot of brainstorming we came up with a few ideas and decided it was worth a try. If it failed, we'd have to bury her and leave her here anyways. Both my boyfriend and I felt that if we buried her here it would feel like leaving her behind.
We figured we'd need something that would burn quite hot, and Josh knew of a particular fertilizer (Potassium Nitrate) that he'd used to make smokebombs out of as a kid, which burned really hot.
So we got two flower pots, some Potassium Nitrate, ALOT of firewood, and some gasoline and set off to a desolate stretch of beach.
Our original plan was to sort of have Pelusa in the pot under the fire along with some Potassium Nitrate to make sure she burned properly and was fully contained (it was our worst nightmare to think we'd discover only part of her had succesfully burnt.. ack!) but in the end things changed a bit.
So, we dug a hole on the beach where we first put a layer of Potassium Nitrate, then five large hardwood logs since they burn at quite a high temperature. On top of that we put a ceramic plate (since all flower pots have holes in the bottom) and the two flower pots (one on top of the other so that it was sealed inside) inside the flower pots was Pelusa, her favourite sweater, and her favourite little ball.. with a bit of gasoline to ensure the fire would start burning there.
Unfortunatly I forgot to take photos of the actual setup before the fire started.
After the pots we put on a few layers of wood, doused the whole thing in Gasoline and set it ablaze.
Unfortunatly the flower pots broke almost instantly and there was not along we could do about keeping her ashes properly contained.
We let the fire burn for quite awhile and threw in a few handfuls of Potassium Nitrate here and there. After a few hours the fire had died down and we were sure she was cremated succesfully.
Unfortunatly since the pots broke her ashes were not properly contained. We spent another few hours digging through the fire put finding bits of ash where we new she'd been burning and a few bits of bone. We put her in the little urn we'd bought for her and crushed it up to have a bit more "ashy" a texture.
It was certainly a very personal way to see your cat go, especially searching through the fire pit and finding little bits of bone to keep. I do not regret doing it, and I'm happy that we definitely have some of her to carry along with us. We did the best we could (considering we're NOT professionals) and managed to get her cremated to take along with us.
For future reference, I would reccommend the following things:
- Do not put flammables inside the pots with the kitty! I'm sure this is the reason the pots broke so instantly. Let the fire work it's way in on it's own.
- I would think maybe building sort of a mini brick oven with proper ventilation so the fire can get in and the smoke can get out would be a good idea.
- When using Potassium Nitrate, be careful since it will sometimes harden instead of all burning off (leaving it stuck to some stuff!)
If anyone is ever considering a home cremation I am happy to answer any questions you might have about the process. I guarantee it is not at all horrifying (you don't see any flaming kitty and there's really no smell) and rather it's quite a personal way to see your cat off. I am not an expert, and our attempt was by no means perfect, but she was cremated nonetheless in a place where cremation opportunities are scarce (latin america is mostly catholic.)
I know that some people may find it strange or disrespectful but it wasn't that way at all. I am very happy we did it, and I know she would've been happy at the great effort we put in to honouring her death and making sure she comes with us for the rest of the trip.