lavendertook

Cremation may cost more than burying in the back yard, but it's definitely much less effort, though you are in Jersey where the soil is so good and much easier to dig. I find cemeteries and mausoleums to be a wasteful use of space in a crowded world for the living now, so I definitely prefer cremation, but if you can put the body directly in the ground and compost it so it can be of use to grow trees over it, that's best of all for me, and I can do that now for Moo since I'm now steward of a little bit of earth. I'm hoping the "composting people" movement will grow so I can be of use to a tree, too. And I have tufts of her fur to pet and sniff and keep in a special container which I prefer to ashes for my beloveds. Your vet should be able to make a paw print of hers in clay for you and cut or shave tufts of her fur for you if you ask. I will be picking up Moo's paw print they made me when I pick up her body, if I can ever get this hole wide and deep enough.