Published by: Ingrid King. Last Updated on: February 1, 2023 by Crystal Uys
This post is sponsored by The Living Urn™
Losing a beloved cat is devastating, no matter what the circumstances. Grief is a very individual experience, and no two cat guardians will grieve in exactly the same way. Rituals can play an important role in the healing process. There is something about acknowledging grief through a tangible action that can help soothe raw emotions.
Rituals can take many different forms. The best ritual is the one that has the most meaning for you. To me, one of the most beautiful rituals to honor the memory of a beloved cat is to plant a tree in her memory. Planting a tree allows you to give life from life – a wonderful way to remember a beloved family member. Doing something life giving is not only a wonderful way to remember a cat, planting a tree will provide a special place for you to visit whenever you feel the need to be close to your cat.
What is the Living Urn™?
The Living Urn™ takes this concept one step further. This unique new alternative to traditional burial, or to keep your cat’s ashes in your home, actually lets you grow a tree from your cat’s cremains. The developers of this product worked for years with leading U.S. arborists and soil scientists to perfect a system that makes it easy to successfully grow a tree from cremated remains by incorporating a seedling, or a baby tree, rather than growing a tree from seed, which can pose a number of significant challenges to a novice tree grower.
Each Living Urn™ comes with everything you need to grow a healthy tree from your cat’s ashes: a handmade biodegradable urn made from recycled plant materials and cellulose in an eco-friendly production process that uses no glue, chemicals or machinery. Also included is a proprietary ash neutralizing agent that offsets elevated pH and sodium levels in the soil caused by the ash that would otherwise make the soil environment less hospitable for tree growth. The system also contains a premium soil growth mix to provide necessary nutrients to the tree, aged wood chips to help the soil retain moisture and a natural handmade bamboo outer container. In addition,you will receive a premium tree seedling of your choice, delivered to your doorstep and ready to plant.
How do you plant the Living Urn™?
The Living Urn™ comes with step-by-step instructions. You simply place your pet’s cremated remains in the urn and add the proprietary ash neutralizing agent followed by the premium growth mix, then place your seedling in the urn and plant it in the ground.
You could make planting your Living Urn™ part of a memorial service honoring your lost cat’s life, or you could make it a special quiet time where you remember your cat as you plant the urn and seedling. I really love the symbolism of the whole “circle of life” idea that this product represents.
The Living Urn™ is an environmentally friendly and affordable alternative to the traditional burial. The pet version of The Living Urn™ is available online at www.TheLivingUrn.com and will soon be coming to a pet cemetery or crematorium near you. A human version of The Living Urn™ is expected be available in July.
FTC Disclosure: This post is sponsored by The Living Urn™, which means that I was paid to feature this content. Regardless of payment received, you will never see products or services featured on this site that I don’t approve of.
About the author
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
Thanks again for all of the comments and feedback. In response to customer demand, we just launched a new version of The Living Urn biodegradable urn and planting system to grow plants or flowers from the cremated remains of our beloved pets! Unlike our tree options which need more space, this can be planted in a small area of the yard or in a large pot.
What an awesome idea!!! We need more trees on our planet! And what better way than in remembrance of our fur babies! I’m sure if the issue of “moving house” is a problem, trees could be provided that are suitable for a pot? Or maybe a native that could be planted in a local nature reserve or bush? Do people have a choice of what tree you provide with the living urn?
Kath, thanks for the comment. Each Living Urn™ comes with an Evergreen seedling of your choice AND a voucher for a Seasonal Tree seedling – tree seedlings will be shipped to your doorstep from the Arbor Day Foundation.
Why Evergreens – Evergreens are famously hardy trees and can be planted most of the year. These elegant, strong and resilient trees are easy to grow and will be shipped to you within 3 to 10 days from the time you place your order. Choose a beautiful pine, spruce or cypress seedling and watch it grow into an enduring memory tree.
Why Seasonal – Our Seasonal tree options include a wide range of more than 20 beautiful, diverse and popular species, and the tree types available to you are narrowed based on your geographic planting zone identified by you zip code. To see the Seasonal Trees we offer for your area, simply go to www.arborday.org/livingurn and type in your zip code. Unlike Evergreens, the Seasonal trees require some special consideration as to when and where they are planted (geographic planting zone) and how they are shipped (dormant state). Because there is a specific window of time when it is appropriate to plant a “Seasonal Tree”, usually in the spring and the fall, the Arbor Day Foundation will ship it to your doorstep at the soonest optimal planting time. If you choose this option for your memory tree, simply store your pet’s cremated remains and wait for your tree to arrive. When it does, follow the simple instructions provided and plant the Living Urn™ to grow your beautiful memory tree from the cremated remains.
Well, I spoke to a few friends about the living urn. I’m tossing it around on whether I should offer it to my son after he just lost his beautiful boy. The cost, is a little steep, but if you’re purchasing an urn – it can get even higher than that. It’s common to find them varying from approx $70 to upwards of $170. It’s a decision that shouldn’t be made with only emotion but when is a death not emotional? However, we did keep coming around to two other thoughts. One being albeit we intend the seedling to grow into a healthy tree, what happens IF for whatever reason it doesn’t? I would imagine it would be a very devastating loss, again. One that feels almost like a more permanent loss because now even the original ashes are gone…. odd thought, perhaps, but a possibility. Second thought … in my son’s case, he may not stay where he lives right now. I’m sure moving would have to be another consideration for some people. It isn’t exactly convenient or without risk, to uproot, move and replant a tree. So, am I over thinking this, or maybe those are really two other things to consider?
Hi Joyce, thanks for your comments – I’m with The Living Urn and wanted to address your concerns.
1) Price – we are currently running a 20% off special on our website. At time of checkout, simply enter the discount code 20OFF to receive the promotional price.
2) Tree Seedlings – the reason we provide tree seedlings instead of seeds is that with a seedling there is a much higher success rate to grow a healthy, mature tree. Also, all of our tree seedlings are of the highest quality and are provided by the Arbor Day Foundation, the largest non-profit dedicated to planting trees with over a million members. The seedling is guaranteed to arrive healthy and ready to plant, otherwise we’ll replace it free of charge;
3) Moving – our product is not suitable for everybody and we understand moving is a fact of life for many people. Some people that have purchased our urn and move frequently for work or other reasons mentioned that they still have the peace of mind that they and their pet were able to give back and have a tree growing in their pet’s honor (even though they may not be able to visit it frequently after moving)..
I hope this helps address some of your concerns.
thanks,
Brandon
Hi Brandon, and thanks for your reply. That was very nice of you, as is the discount. As I said, the price falls in line with other forms of urns, memorial trinkets, etc, but your courtesy is appreciated. There definitely is something I like about the product idea. I don’t find it to be anything less than a new, sustainable, kind way of honoring our fur babies. I think I’m just trying to find my level of comfort with it. I wish you much success, and I wish peace to all of us in our moments of grief.
While I think this is a lovely idea and something that I would like to do, I think that the price, at $149 is simply absurd. I feel that they are attempting to take advantage of our grieving to make money. A tiny tree seedling requires nurturing and it will take over 10 years to become a tree of any stature.
Better that we buy the chemicals ourselves, a container and a more mature tree that can be grown in a large pot that we can transport with us if we move.
I’m sure that many will not agree with me, but I want my precious ashes to be able to remain with me.
As anything else related to grieving and remembering a lost loved one, this, too, is a very personal choice.
Hi Eva, thanks for your comments. I’m Brandon with The Living Urn. We understand that our urn isn’t for everyone and that some may prefer other ways of remembering their pets and storing the cremated remains.
As for pricing, all of our components are organic and of the highest quality to help ensure that a memory tree grows from the cremated remains of pets (we didn’t cut any corners on quality, and therefore, the cost of the components in the system are much higher than they would of otherwise been). Also, we’re currently offering a promotion for 20% off the price of our planting system that can be received at checkout on our website (www.TheLivingUrn.com) with coupon code 20OFF.
I think this is a wonderful idea!!! I lost my Missy of 20 years back in May. It has been an absolute struggle for me and the whole family! She was truly one of a kind, watched her being born and held her as she passed away. I have her ashes but I feel so lost but with this idea I feel I can do one last thing for her so that she can in a way continue on… Thank you !!! I will be speaking with my family tonight about this!
Shari
I’m so sorry about your Missy, Shari. I’m glad that this may help you as you and your family mourn her loss.
Shari, thanks for your comment and sorry to hear about your Missy. We are getting a lot of interest from other cat guardians just like yourself. If you’re interested in purchasing a Living Urn, be sure to use coupon code 20OFF at checkout on our website (that’s our current and best promotional offer).
Hi Ingrid, I guess this is a timely piece. My son’s cat Yoshi died suddenly. He was FIV+ and had been living asymptomatically (is that a word?) but last week he just didn’t seem right to Ryan one morning so he took him with him to work, which us close to the vet office. But Ry never made it to work that day, he headed straight to the vet. ….. and my son made a choice he just wasn’t ready for but wouldn’t let Yoshi suffer. I don’t know if this would be appropriate for Ryan, though, but I think I’ll find a way to ask him. He didn’t have a plan for Yoshi’s ashes so maybe …. I’ll let you know what he decides, when or if I figure out how to present it. It’s very difficult for him because even though he knew when he adopted Yoshi, he was doing so well and it’s just a sad shock. 🙁
I’m so sorry about Yoshi, Joyce. It’s always hard to make that choice, but it’s even harder when it happens so quickly. Please extend my sympathy to Ryan, and do let me know if you decide to give him a Living Urn.