Offering Memorial Keepsakes at a Pet Crematorium or Vet Practice

A pet crematorium or vet practice can offer a small range of keepsake figures alongside urns and caskets, so that families have something to keep on a shelf or windowsill. Choose pieces in recognisable breeds and coat colours, include a few with a base that can be engraved with a name or date, and present them quietly rather than selling hard. Jodie's Wood Studio takes trade enquiries from pet crematoria and vet practices, with prices sent privately.

Why offer keepsakes as well as urns and caskets?

Urns and caskets answer a practical need. They are not the only thing families look for. Many people want something visible and comforting that is not connected with the practicalities of cremation: a small figure that looks like their cat or dog, to keep in the place where the pet used to sit. For a crematorium or vet practice, offering a short list of keepsakes means that the family does not have to go elsewhere to find one at a difficult time.

A keepsake figure is a different kind of purchase. It is not an urn or a casket, and we do not describe our pieces as holding ashes. It is a hand-carved, hand-painted decorative figure, meant to sit on a shelf, a bookcase or a memorial corner at home. That distinction matters, and it is worth being clear about it in your own displays and information sheets so that families know what they are choosing.

Keepsakes also suit the people around the family. Friends, neighbours and colleagues often want to send something small and thoughtful, and a practice that can offer a gift suggestion is helping them as well.

Which wooden pet figures suit a memorial range?

Several pieces in our range are tagged for memorial use. For cats, the Faceted Grey Tabby Cat and the Faceted Ginger Tabby Cat are sized for a desk, a bookshelf or a memorial shelf, and the Faceted Tuxedo Cat covers the black-and-white cat that so many families have. The Black Bombay Cat has copper eyes on an engravable base and is a favourite as a memorial for black cats.

For dogs, the Textured Golden Retriever sits on a round pine base and is often chosen as a pet memorial, and the Textured Pug has a carved fur texture and big eyes. The Border Collie on Paw Base is carved in a low-poly style on a paw-print base that can be engraved. The Tiny Golden Retriever is a gentler, smaller option for remembering a much-loved pet.

A small range of six to eight pieces, covering the most common cats and dogs, is enough to start with. You can add pieces later according to what families ask for.

• Cats: grey tabby, ginger tabby, tuxedo, black Bombay
• Dogs: golden retriever, pug, border collie, tiny golden retriever
• Engravable bases: Black Bombay Cat, Border Collie, Smiling Ginger Cat and Dog with Bandana

How can a figure be personalised with a name or date?

Some bases can be laser-engraved with a name, a date or a short message. Among the memorial pieces, the Black Bombay Cat, the Smiling Ginger Cat, the Border Collie on Paw Base and the Dog with Bandana are the ones with an engravable base. If you would like to offer engraving, raise it in your trade enquiry and ask how the process would work for your practice.

Because the wording is personal, think carefully about how you take the details. A simple card where the family writes the exact name and date in capital letters avoids mistakes, and it gives staff something to check before the order is placed. See our guide on selling personalised and engraved gifts in store for more about taking orders for engraved pieces.

Do not promise an engraved piece until you have confirmed that it is available for your order.

How should you present keepsakes to grieving families?

Tone is the most important part. A small display in a reception area or a leaflet in the information pack is usually more appropriate than a sales conversation. Staff should feel able to mention that keepsakes are available and then let the family look in their own time.

Use plain, kind wording. Describe the piece as a hand-painted wooden keepsake, state the size from the product page, and be honest that it is a decorative figure and not an urn. Avoid sales language and avoid urgent offers, which feel out of place in this setting.

Photographs help. Families often want a figure that resembles their pet, so a catalogue or a screen showing coat colours and breeds lets them choose without feeling rushed.

What should your information sheet say about keepsakes?

Keep it short and factual. Name each piece, give the size from the product page, say that it is hand-carved and hand-painted, and say that it is a decorative item, not a toy and not an urn. If an engraved base is available for a piece, say what can be engraved, for example a name, a date or a short message, and who to ask.

Leave out anything you cannot check. Do not describe finishes, materials or delivery times beyond what you have been told in writing by the supplier, and do not make promises about how long a piece will last. Families remember small mistakes in a sensitive setting, so accuracy is kinder than enthusiasm.

It also helps to give staff a one-page summary of the range, so that every member of the team gives the same answer when a family asks which animals are available or whether a name can be added.

How do you place a trade order for a crematorium or vet practice?

Send a trade enquiry and say that you are a pet crematorium or vet practice. Tell us which animals you are most likely to need, whether you would like engravable bases and roughly how you plan to display or offer the pieces. We reply with trade prices, which are not published, and the next steps.

Pieces ship from our UK warehouse. You can read more about the types of business our trade service is for on the wholesale page, and browse all pieces in the collection before you write.

Frequently asked questions