A few things you can do to help:

1. Place pee pads or some old towels under the pet’s head and bottom as they may begin excreting fluids.

2. Gently move your pet into a curled position, ie. front and back legs tucked towards their body.

3. Keep the body as cool and dry as possible and away from other pets.

Place icepacks (or freeze water in plastic containers such as 1L milk or juice bottles, even zip bags), under and on top of the body. The aim is to keep the torso and internal organs cool, but not frozen. A thermometer tucked next to the skin can be useful. Ideally you would want the temperature to be between 1-5 degrees.

4. Reach out to us, the earlier the better. Because without respiration and circulation, natural deterioration can take place fairly quick.

Yes, indeed.   You would receive 20-30% more ashes than one would receive from a flame cremation, without being discoloured or charred from the furnace. 

Ashes from aquamation can be used for any type of memorialisation, such as cremation jewellery, memory glass, clay memorials, tree urns, diamonds, etc. Talk to us about your options.

It takes around a week on average, except for larger pets which may take up to 10 days.  

Aquamation, as a gentle eco-consciously option, it takes a fair bit longer than flame cremation.  The process can take up to 24 hours.  Bones retrieved are placed to dry for another few days, before the processing to ash.

This is a very common concern and we have heard some horrible stories.

We have strict processes in place to ensure all care and responsibilities are taken.  

Your pet will be allocated a named tag as soon as we receive them in our care. The tag will follow your pet every step of the way.

Since all pets are privately cremated in their own chamber, there is very small chance for them to get mixed up. The bones are processed individually and one pet at a time (unless specifically instructed), again ensuring the integrity of the remains. Our system is guaranteed to make sure you get the right remains.

Additionally, any foreign implants/objects that may be found in your pet could be separated and returned to you if you wish.

Why not! The remains are completely sterile. In fact, the process of aquamation, aka alkaline hydrolysis, destroys the hardest to kill pathogens. For example, for pets who had chemotherapy, this process would render any cytotoxic agents, (the chemo chemicals), that are left in the body. In this perspective, aquamation is more gentle to the environment than burial. 

Absolutely! We would love to have them especially for the farewell. And we would keep them with your pet until the aquamation process.

We are more than happy to pass them on to animal shelters, SPCA etc on your behalf, after the service, if you wish.

There are no two animals of the same.

Different animal breeds have different bone structure and bone density, even if they are similar in weight. For example, a Siamese cat will produce less ash than a Maine Coon cat. Lower bone density results in less bone remains. This also applies to some older pets or in cases of some illness, eg. cancer.

Bones from aquamation tend to appear lighter in colour however depending on the pigments in the animal hair and skin it can tint the bones a little green or tan. While in flame based cremation you will often see charred and grey colour remains due to the nature of the oxidative process.