Pet funeral.
Because life is more than covid.
Our cat, Foo, died at 4:07 am last Tuesday. Pets are cremated in Japan as are humans. They even have pet cemeteries, which seems to be a thing in big cities in the States, but not out in the country where I grew up. Tuesday night, we took Foo’s remains to a crematorium for pets and the service, including funeral was so much like that for a person that it was somewhat unsettling. The one thing missing was the religious chanting of a Buddhist monk, which is offered for pet funerals at temples. Not so surprising given that religion’s regard for animals.
I was surprised at how long we had to wait for our emaciated cat’s remains to be cremated. They brought her cremains in for us to view and to place in the crypt. They had carefully laid out her bones into two stainless steel trays. Her skull, jaw bones, the first vertebrae below the skull, which is of special importance to the Buddhist faith, and her shoulder blades carefully displayed in one tray. The other tray had the rest of her bones carefully laid out. The rest of her back bone and tail bones carefully lined up. All her claws were laid out in a straight line. It looked very much like an exhibit at a museum, which at the time displeased me as it was the remains of our beloved cat who has been with us for 18 years. However, to lay out her remains in such a fashion using chopsticks took a lot of time and care. I am now grateful for the care and respect they gave her.
After having her remains explained to us, we were escorted outside and we placed them in a vault. The larger bones were placed inside with two of us using metal chopsticks together. The skull and shoulder blades were fragile and we were told we should use our bare hands to place them inside. To hold the bones of a deceased loved one in your bare hand is an intimacy that I can not describe. One I would rather wish I did not have while at the same time glad I was able to.
As we waited for the cremation, we were provided with a wooden memorial tablet. My son drew a picture of Foo and we all wrote messages to her. My wife drew some flowers. This tablet will remain outside near the crypt for 6 months.
I'd been thinking about Foo since we'd exchanged comments about her illness on Celia Farber's blog regarding the death of her cat Jack. It seemed no further news about Foo was good news. I was very glad you were getting more time with her.
When I saw the title of this piece, I knew what had happened. This is such sad news. Through the brief conversation we had about her, Foo felt familiar to me - almost as if I'd met her. And I guess in a way I had because you described her so well.
Though I didn't know Foo personally, I do know a couple of things for sure. She was an extremely fortunate kitty to have found her way to your family. You were devoted to her and made every effort to take the best care of her that was possible.
Best of all, she was valued as far more than a pet. She was truly a member of your family and knew she was much loved.
Thank you for sharing the details of Foo's funeral. I had no knowledge of how a cat's death was handled in Japan. It was fascinating to read. The respect given to the bones of your beloved Foo.
was touching. Her life and death were honored.
My heartfelt condolences to you and your family on the loss of your precious Foo.