My original three babies

[ViciousCurse]

(I'm not announcing the death of any of my rats, I have a question about cremating rats and didn't know where else to put this besides memorials, I can delete and repost if it doesn't belong here).

In April of 2016, I got my first three rats. I lost all three throughout the year of 2018- one in May, one in August, and then one in December.
Just bear with me, because this is going to sound REALLY weird. They're still in my freezer. When I lost my first one, I decided to keep him because I have this thing where I want to get all three cremated and at least put in the same urn. So my question is, has anyone ever done this? What price range should I expect?
The place where I brought one to be euthanized offered cremating them for $30USD, but to get back their ashes was $400USD... I thought this was a little outrageous of a price because I lost my dog in October of 2016 and it cost $400USD in TOTAL to have him euthanized, get a pair of pawprints, to cremate him privately, and then receive his ashes back. My dog was, like, 50lbs too.

 

[SillyGilly]

I’m so, so sorry to hear that!!! To be honest though, I probably would have done the same. I didn’t want to just bury my boy because we move around a lot and I’d hate for him to get left behind (It’s just one rat, so sorry if this doesn’t really answer your question and I’m replying a little late) We took him to the Humane Society and it only costed $25 US Dollars. The only thing we need to pick up his ashes is a little ticket they gave us. But the $25 is all we had to pay. They even had his name engraved on the urn. Again, I’m so sorry for your losses.

 

[Dena]

First off, so sorry about your losses. I hated having to bury my heart rat. I really wish I had cremated him. I just wouldn't have been able to leave him in my freezer. I couldn't bear the thought of opening it up to get dinner, and having to see him, and scoot him out of the way. My back yard seriously looks like Swiss cheese from our chameleon, and a few rats back there. I guess I should see about cremation. I'm terrified of accidentally digging something up the next time we bury something. Second, WOAH! That's a lot of money! Even for the dog! My dad had his cremated (she was about 15 pounds), and they did a nice urn and stuff and she was only $125. I guess maybe it's the different areas we live in?

 

[SillyGilly]

A childhood dog of mine passed last year (he was a little dachshund I’ve known pretty much all my life, lived to be 17), we kept him wrapped up in the freezer overnight (luckily my family has two freezers, so we kept him in the one we barely used) since it was too late at night to take him anywhere, and we also got him cremated with the paw print and all for only $120.

 

[ViciousCurse]

Thank you all very much for the condolences and advice!<3

Let me clarify on something I said earlier; it was $400USD for my dog because it was a Saturday morning emergency vet visit that ended with my decision to humanely euthanize my dog. He was about fourteen years old and it was determined that he had a brain tumor. The very last video I got of him (aside from the vet office) was my heart rat crawling around on his back and at his feet, so I have a cute video of both.
That vet clinic was super nice. I came out just sobbing and the vet techs actually gave me hug and tissues. I wouldn't mind paying such a pretty penny for that sort of treatment again. They were fantastic-- made the entire process easier.
On a quick sidenote though, when I had to bring my current dog into an emergency vet visit, the guy who diagnosed my last dog and euthanized him was the same one to see my current dog. Talk about an emotional meeting. My grandma even commented that if we had been put in the same room with the same vet, I'd probably end up sobbing.

A childhood dog of mine passed last year (he was a little dachshund I’ve known pretty much all my life, lived to be 17), we kept him wrapped up in the freezer overnight (luckily my family has two freezers, so we kept him in the one we barely used) since it was too late at night to take him anywhere, and we also got him cremated with the paw print and all for only $120.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I ended up getting a tattoo of my dog. I want to get my rats tattooed next to him eventually.

ANYWAYS. Got a little off track, but I don't mind.

 

[ViciousCurse]

The update to my situation though is I found a lovely pet cremation location near me. They do private cremation services only and I emailed asking what it would be like to have my rats cremated together and it would be $210USD for all three to be cremated, get little pawprints of each of them, and get little tuffs of their fur, along with a wooden urn.

EDIT: I forgot to reply earlier to Dena. I struggle hardcore having them in the freezer too, but I put a Target bag and just don't... look in that section of the freezer We were going to have a second freezer set up, but that fell through for whatever reason (can't remember).
Also, my biological mother (wasn't raised by her, so I don't call her Mom) said that leaving them in the freezer causes them to thaw out and apparently... leech decay into the surrounding food? At first I'd discredit her, but she does have a degree in Chemistry, so I'm not entirely sure it's okay to dismiss her completely. Anyone know anything about this?
Ideally, I would not like to keep my deceased pets anywhere near food, but I move a lot too, can't stand the thought of leaving them, and want them to be cremated.

Also, I paid for my heart rat to be euthanized for about... $60USD. I paid very little because I called and said it wasn't worth it for an examination. Long story short, my Gideon was doing very poorly and I knew he wouldn't last much longer. They were great. And then afterwards, they sent me a condolences card. At first I thought the card was a late birthday card (I euthanized my Gideon the day before my birthday), so I had a bittersweet surprise when I opened the letter.

 

[Dena]

Awwwwwww! That's so sad!! I'm not sure about the decay in the freezer thing. I'm sure your food won't be in there long enough to really be affected by it. I put mine in a ziploc bag, inside a food storage container that had a gasket on it. Besides, I've known people who kept a cat in their freezer For over a year, and she works for a vet! I'm sure if it was true, then any meat you'd keep in there, would do the same. Just seems like common sense to me.... I'm sure you also don't leave your freezer open long enough for them to thaw out and refreeze. I think the worst that would happen, would be freezer burn, and I don't think that would be an issue either. Especially since you don't plan to keep them in there forever. Sorry if that sounded cruel, but just trying to show you from a common sense (or maybe not. Maybe just my way of thinking) side. Hope it helps a little....

 

[ViciousCurse]

Awwwwwww! That's so sad!! I'm not sure about the decay in the freezer thing. I'm sure your food won't be in there long enough to really be affected by it. I put mine in a ziploc bag, inside a food storage container that had a gasket on it. Besides, I've known people who kept a cat in their freezer For over a year, and she works for a vet! I'm sure if it was true, then any meat you'd keep in there, would do the same. Just seems like common sense to me.... I'm sure you also don't leave your freezer open long enough for them to thaw out and refreeze. I think the worst that would happen, would be freezer burn, and I don't think that would be an issue either. Especially since you don't plan to keep them in there forever. Sorry if that sounded cruel, but just trying to show you from a common sense (or maybe not. Maybe just my way of thinking) side. Hope it helps a little....

You didn't sound cruel at all. You were being real and I appreciate that. While I don't like the idea of their bodies becoming freezer burned, they will ultimately be cremated. I just wanted to make sure... My bio mom's claim sounded a little dumb to me, but I wanted to be sure. She's said some bullcrap things before, but I've been proven wrong before, so I wanted to check. I never leave the freezer door open, simply because if I wanted to feel cold, I'd go outside. It's below freezing outside.

 

[SillyGilly]

No worries <3 my dog lived a very long and good life. He was old, deaf, blind, and stinky but he was happy and to me, a pets happiness is my happiness. The tattoos sound SUPER sweet!! I’d love to get the boys tattooed on me (even if that means sucking up my fear of needles lol!) The people you see for your fur baby’s all sound like such wonderful people; giving you comfort where comfort is due, but the card part is what really warmed my heart! That was seriously so nice of them! I give all of my virtual hugs to you and those nice folks!! But wow what a dignified cremation! Truly beautiful! The fact that they give you tufts of their fur and paw prints made my heart clench. That’s so lovely <3 I need to find myself a place like that lol! When I brought my baby in to be cremated, I got him back in a little tin can and they printed the date of his passing wrong! I had to take him back to have that fixed! And while I wasn’t crying when I walked into the place to pick him up, I sure was when I had to sit there in the waiting room, with my little tin can in hand, waiting for them to reprint the label. But, my boy is back home where he belongs now and I’m happy with that. I kiss his little urn every morning when I wake up <3

 

[ViciousCurse]

I totally understand the "if they're happy, I'm happy" sentiment! When I'm feeling upset, feeding my rats and watching them go store their food makes me feel better! I mean, holding them and getting kisses is great too, but I love the flurry of activity that comes with feeding time. It's also just funny lifting up a hide, expecting to see a rat, and instead have a pile of food fall into your hands. My previous dog, Thumper, was going deaf. I'm so glad I taught him hand signals. He was not stinky, but he was losing control of his limbs. Breaks my heart to lose them, but I know it was to at least let them leave with dignity.

Thanks for the hugs! I guess they lived up to the "Minnesota nice" stereotype. I'm sorry they screwed up. I hope it wasn't anymore painful beyond that. I'd recommend the place I was going, but that's a LONG trip from TX to MN (and I've had to drive and fly between the two places a couple of times).


If it makes you feel any better, the needle wasn't that intimidating or painful. I got my first one in early 2017 and it was pretty simple for me. I'd totally love to get more soon, but I have to save my funds for my rats. I can DM you a picture of it later, but it was pretty much in-and-out. Fifteen minutes to tattoo me, get some advice on how to care for it, and then on from there. It healed beautifully, thank goodness. I understand this isn't a tattoo forum, but my next step in handling my grief is memorializing my boys in some way.