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Oct 21, 2024

Best Pet Loss Gifts 2024 | Reviews by Wirecutter

By Samantha Schoech Samantha Schoech is a writer focusing on gifts. She spends her time finding things that combine quality, beauty, usefulness, and delight. We’ve updated and added to our picks to

By Samantha Schoech

Samantha Schoech is a writer focusing on gifts. She spends her time finding things that combine quality, beauty, usefulness, and delight.

We’ve updated and added to our picks to include a memorial heart, a handmade urn, and a custom keychain for daily remembrance.

Pets are the family members who supply unconditional, uncomplicated love, and for many people, losing a pet comes with a somewhat unexpected wave of deep grief. Although supporting a loved one in their bereavement doesn’t require giving a gift, a thoughtful token will acknowledge their profound loss and help them remember their furry companion with fondness. With that in mind, we chose these gifts—many of them as unique as the pets they commemorate.

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These handmade, heart-shaped ceramic dishes are stamped with a pet’s name below words of remembrance and a small paw print.

These sweet and simple Susabellas Custom Memorial Heart Dishes serve as a subtle daily memorial to a lost pet that can be displayed forever. About the size of a hand, the ceramic dishes hold rings or small trinkets, and they are surprisingly sturdy. Each one is hand made with a stamped personalization, the words “Always in our hearts,” and a small paw print. You can also order a gift box for a small fee.

Digital etching and hand craftsmanship combine to create lasting and remarkably accurate metal pet portraits.

It’s possible to keep a deceased pet front of mind without being maudlin or overly precious. The sturdy, stainless Silvercut Lifelike Key Chain features remarkably accurate etchings of a pet and are a lovely, no fuss way to remember a best friend on the daily. I got one for my son after we lost our cat, and it’s the perfect reminder of our special bond, without feeling overly sentimental or sad. They come in three sizes and a choice of three metals, including sterling silver. Silvercut also makes etched necklaces and bracelets.

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These custom stoneware pet urns come in multiple sizes and colors, and they can be stamped with a cherished pet’s name.

As supervising editor Hannah Morrill found out last May, the compulsory box you’re required to purchase alongside a pet’s cremation leaves a lot to be desired. (Hers was faux mahogany with gaudy gilded hinges.) A better option for keeping ashes close is the understated, handmade Claylicious Stoneware Custom Pet Urn. These vessels come in five sizes to accommodate the ashes of pets from 5 to 110 pounds. Each one has a bisque-colored stoneware base, a band of color, and a fitted cork lid. Even though they are made to order, they arrive surprisingly fast.

This midsize Italian terra-cotta pot is hand-engraved with a personalized memorial to a beloved pet; you can choose to add seeds or potting mix to complete the gift.

Like pets, potted plants bring joy and life. This terra-cotta Pet Memorial Plant Pot contains both. Choose a bespoke message to have engraved beneath a sweet paw print; seeds or a bag of corn-husk coir soil can be added for just a few dollars. If you’d rather present the gift in person, ship the pot to yourself and fill it with any 6-inch nursery potted plant. This will be a long-lasting and subtle reminder of cherished memories for years to come.

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For a nominal fee, A Living Tribute will plant a tree or grove of trees in a designated national forest or state park in need of restoration. Gift recipients get a personalized card honoring their pet.

Give a tree from A Living Tribute to memorialize a pup who was happiest in the woods or a kitty whose days were best spent window-shopping wildlife. For just $10, A Living Tribute will plant a single tree in an impacted national or state forest (or you can pay more for groves of five to 500 trees). And gift recipients get a personalized card honoring their beloved pet. For every 1,000 trees planted, there are 4 acres of life-giving wild habitat provided. A complete list of recent projects is available for review on the website, and while you can’t pinpoint a sapling’s exact location, you can opt for a specific region or state.

Mount a pet’s photo in this hinged wooden shadow box, complete with a personalized brass plaque and display peg for collars, treasured toys, or other mementos.

The jangle of a collar. The skitter of a batted toy mousie. The Pet Memorial Shadow Box Frame creates a tactile tribute to a departed pet by preserving a photo alongside cherished memorabilia. Every aspect of the box can be customized, from the wood and size to the mat color and number of pegs. Submit a photo, and the company will print and mount it for you, or skip that step and use a photo from home. The comments section includes lots of sweet and creative inspiration photos for assembling meaningful assortments. Don’t expect it to arrive quickly, though: Each box is made to order and ships from England.

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Hang this 40-mm cut-crystal ball in the window, and let the scattered splashes of rainbow light evoke memories. Chain and hanger are included.

Intended to hang in a window, this 40-mm cut crystal will refract rainbow shimmers around the room, to help your loved one memorialize their beloved companion. Presented in an elegant gift box, each crystal is outfitted with an 18-inch chain and a 0.75-inch wall hanger. The prism offers a lovely yet subtle daily reminder that the recipient can enjoy for years to come, and you have the option to include a personalized note.

This natural river stone, engraved with a pet’s name, serves as a burial marker or a lasting memorial indoors or out.

No matter what a family decides to do with the remains of their beloved pet, a stone marker is a beautiful commemoration, especially when placed in a favorite lounging spot. The natural shapes of these personalized river stones ensure that each marker is unique. You can choose a size from about 3.5 to 5 inches, along with the font and an optional design.

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This simple glass jar is filled with a hand-poured soy-wax candle, and it can be customized with a pet’s photograph, for a subtle memorial. It burns cleanly for up to 50 hours.

We love the simple, dignified design of these personalized soy-based jar candles. Just send a photo of the cherished pet along with your desired text, and this maker will create a memorial candle that burns for about 50 hours. The cinnamon-scented soy wax is hand-poured. A frosted-glass option with a wooden lid comes in a number of scents, including balsam cedar and grapefruit mint, as well as unscented.

Provide a great photo, and four weeks later an artful and accurate hand-painted portrait arrives.

The artist behind these charming hand-painted watercolor portraits is based in Italy, so the process—from ordering to receipt—can take up to four weeks. For the price and the quality, however, we think the work is unparalleled. Just send in a photo of a loved one’s cherished pet, and they will receive a charming, carefully hand-painted portrait that expertly captures the pet’s individual spirit. Each original work comes on a thick piece of 8-by-10 watercolor paper, but you can send a message to the seller, and she’ll accommodate other sizes.

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Receive a unique silhouette digitally rendered and printed on archival paper. The company offers flexible customer service and tons of customizable options.

These classic silhouettes elegantly preserve the image of any good boy or girl. Just provide a profile photograph—finding a good one is probably the trickiest part—and the company sends back a digitally rendered proof in only a few days. In our experience, representatives were supremely responsive in making tweaks and edits, such as removing an errant hair and even trying a totally different picture, with no upcharge. The customization options are nice, too: You can choose from seven sizes, select optional framing, and add personalized text in a range of fonts.

The Bouqs Company delivers pretty, long-lasting arrangements. For even more longevity, repottable succulents are tucked within this muted sympathy arrangement.

This particular bouquet, from a flower-delivery service we tested, includes plantable succulents, so the bouquet can continue to serve as a living tribute to someone’s best bud. Among fragrant eucalyptus and white alstroemeria, the succulents come in a water-saving tube, with easy instructions for repotting. The bouquet is available in three sizes, ranging in price from $60 to $100, but we found that the midrange deluxe size was very generously sized. If you don’t think the recipient has a vase handy, you can add one for $18.

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Remember a beloved pet with these understated gold initial charms, available in 14-karat recycled yellow, white, and rose gold.

These tiny initial charms can be meaningful yet private reminders of a lost pet (chains are sold separately). Made in New York City from 100% recycled gold, they accommodate one to 12 letters (they start at $70 and go up with each additional letter) in yellow, white, or rose gold. The custom initials are also available on dainty rings or earrings.

Mixbook offers the best book-building experience, modern design options, and vibrant, color-accurate photo quality for creating a lasting tribute.

A book of favorite pet photos is a thoughtful gift that will elicit good memories for a long time to come. And the gift you’re really giving is your time, since you assemble captivating pictures of a single pet, navigate layouts, and arrange everything with care. We like this photo-book service because it’s easy to use and has lots of design options (including pet themes), and small softcover books start at just $10 for 20 photos. Mixbook also offers great customer service and an impressively powerful app. Another great feature: Mixbook has only a 10-page minimum, a more-doable undertaking in comparison with some other services’ books, which have a minimum of 30 pages.

We love finding gifts that are unusual, thoughtful, and well vetted. See even more gift ideas we recommend.

This article was edited by Hannah Morrill and Jennifer Hunter.

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Samantha Schoech

Except for the time she gave a boyfriend her mother’s old toaster for Christmas, staff writer Samantha Schoech has a reputation as an excellent gift giver. She lives in San Francisco with two teens, two cats, a geriatric betta fish, and a bookseller husband. Her first book of short stories, My Mother’s Boyfriends, is coming out in 2024.

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