Considerations
First, your pet belongs to you. You are not compelled to do anything specific with your pets remains. You may remove it from an accident scene or the Vet's office if you wish. Your vet should explain the different options you have if you intend to cremate. If you don't physically take them to a cremation service, you should be very specific as to how you wish for them to be cremated. When nothing is specified, the cremation service contracted with the vet will pick the remains up and cremate them communally (usually in plastic bags). Even if you wish for your pets ashes to be returned to you, they may be actually cremated with several others and kept separated. If you wish your pet to be individually cremated you must specify that you wish for your pet to be cremated individually and that the service certifies the remains returned are your pets.
If you are anticipating the event due to an illness that may be terminal or advanced age, you might consider some pre-planning with your vet and the cremation service they are contracted with. It is always easier emotionally before the event than when it occurs. You might also want to consider pre-paying for the cremation service. Many times there are some major medical expenses due to accident or illness prior to the event, then the additional costs associated directly with the event.
Many cremation services offer a variety of packaged services, including private cremations or burials, urns and a variety of other products. Most basic services deliver the ashes back to the vet in a plastic box and some just bagged. We offer an alternative to that to our cremation services clients with an Aspen wood very basic urn at a very low additional cost to the plastic box. It is still constructed the same, however is not lined, does not have raised panels or a pedestal base, photo holder or brass plate, however it is wood rather than plastic.The Aspen urn might allow things to settle before expending the money on a really nice urn. Simply have your vet or cremation service contact us and we will supply them with it very quickly if we are not already.
When considering an urn, the first consideration is size. It matters not how large the pet was in terms of the size of the urn, other than it is large enough to hold the remains. It is how you wish to display the memorial that is important to size. When determining the size in relation to the cubic inches, the rule of thumb has been 1 cubic inch to 1 pound prior to cremation. Quite frankly, we find this to be overstated. We have found that .77 cubic inches to one pound is quite adequate.
Keep in mind that interior cubic inches may vary from urn to urn dependent on how they are constructed. Many are from 1/2 inch thickness material, while ours as an example are from either 5/8 or 3/4 inch material, thus the same exterior size will not have the same interior capacity. Make sure that the capacity is identified by the maker.