Cremation vessels, or ash urns, are containers for holding ashes following cremation.  Ash urns marketed as being specifically for pets are often sized for cats and dogs, and some of these pet urns are quite beautiful.  However, you don’t need to use a designated “pet” urn for an animal’s ashes. In fact, you don’t need to use an “urn” at all.  When choosing a holder for the ashes, why limit yourself in either size or material by considering only holders that have been specifically designated as ash urns?  If you want your animal memorial to include the animal’s ashes, thinking unconventionally about the ash holder can expand your options considerably.

If the ashes will remain inside a sealed container (such as a bag) and then be placed inside a larger display vessel, virtually any container made from almost any material - wood, metal, ceramic - can be used as a display vessel.  If you like the container and consider it appropriate to honor your animal friend and hold her remains, then it’s a good choice!  Art co-ops, craft fairs and pottery studios may offer some gorgeous, handcrafted, one-of-a-kind pieces that would work well as ash holders, even if they were not original intended as such.  You can also, of course, choose to create a custom wooden box or ceramic urn, either creating it yourself if you have the skills, or having a talented woodworker, potter or artist create it for you.  For a simple, easy and affordable option, consider repurposing an existing container you already have that was not originally intended as an ash urn.  For example, a number of ceramic and wooden kitchen containers - such as cookie jars, sugar bowls and salt cellars - are quite beautiful and could make excellent ash vessels if you like them and consider them appropriate for that purpose.  If you used a special container to hold treats for your animal friend when she was alive, you might consider converting that container to an ash vessel.

Size doesn’t need to be a limiting factor in your decision, particularly if you don’t feel compelled to keep all of the ashes together.  For example, you may want to keep some of the ashes in a vessel and spread the remaining ashes outdoors at a designated memorial site or other special location.  In this case, you might decide that a very small (perhaps even tiny) ash container is best.  If you’d like to keep some of your friend’s ashes with you on your person, there are some beautiful jewelry options - small, specially configured pieces (“cremation jewelry”) that are available in a variety of nice designs and are specifically intended to hold a small quantity of ashes.  To house a small portion of the ashes indoors, rather than on your person in a piece of jewelry, you have many of the same options as for holding the full quantity of ashes - wooden boxes, small ceramic jars, etc.- and you don’t need to limit yourself to a “pet urn.”  If you think creatively and look to sources other than those specifically designated as being for pets or specifically designated as being urns, you’ll find an almost endless array of nice options for your animal friend’s ash vessel.