7 Ways to Create a Memorial to Your Cat

Last Updated on September 2, 2021 by Holly Anne Dustin

World Pet Memorial Day is a special day to remember your pets that have passed over the Rainbow Bridge. It is a special day to celebrate the lives of cats dear to you. There are many ways to create a memorial to your cat to provide comfort and closure.

We see our cats as our furbabies and members of the family. The price we pay for the special bond between us and our furbabies is the sorrow when they die.  The death of a pet can bring as much immense grief as losing a human family member. Reflecting on the lives of our lost feline friends honors their memories. Creating a lasting memorial to your kitty will keep their memory alive.

Remembering Your Cat After Death

Holding a memorial service for your cat can be a step toward healing your heart. You can invite friends and family members who know you and your pet and will understand your loss. It’s not helpful to include people who don’t understand the depth of feeling that goes along with pet loss no matter how close they might be to you.

Consider making a visit in his memory if your furbaby was an adventure cat and had a favorite spot to visit,

Write an obituary and post on social media. This always just seems to happen for many people (including me) because we share our big life events. A significant loss like a heart cat would be that. Making a webpage in honor of your angel cat and her place in your life provides a more permanent memorial.

A cat related tattoo can memorialize your cat. Some artists will even incorporate your cat’s ashes into the ink.

How to Keep My Cat’s Memory Alive

This post may contain affiliate links. Life and Cats is a Chewy affiliate and a member of the Amazon Associates program and as such we earn a small commission when you shop through our our links and banners. It doesn’t change the amount you pay. You can read our full disclosure policy here.

As much as it hurts at first, the memory of your beloved cats will bring you comfort and joy. Creating a memorial to your cat can be a healing experience.

Consider making a photo album of your pet starting from the time he was small or from when your journey together began. When I lost Midnight in January, I was heartbroken and I didn’t have a lot of his kitten pictures. I had to search to find pictures for his online memorial. I wish I had kept a photo album on all my cats.

Create a scrapbook or a shadowbox to display with photos and memorabilia. Craft stores sell shadowboxes or kits to create your own display. Pick a photo for your central theme. Mat the display in a coordinating color.

You could include favorite toys, a collar and leash if your cat was an adventure cat, awards and ribbons for a show cat. Engrave a tag with your kitty’s name and dates and include a paw print.

For a less intensive project, print photos of your pet to put in a special commemorative frame or a digital frame for your desk.

Cat Memorial Jewelry

There are lots of beautiful pieces of jewelry that you can wear in memory of your beloved kitty.

A paw print angel wing charm necklace is a nice daily memorial necklace or a heartfelt gift to a friend who has lost a furbaby.

You can opt to engrave your kitty’s photo on a memorial charm necklace or put his actual paw print on a ring.

Pawzaar offers memorial necklaces that can include a bit of Kitty’s ashes or a bit of his fur. They come in star, cross and heart models.

If you want to do something spectacular, Heart in Diamonds will turn your pet’s ashes turned into a lab-grown diamond and set it into the jewelry of your choice.

Beautiful Ways to Create a Memorial to Your Cat

Commemorating your cat in art creates a treasured keepsake. Seeing it will remind you of the pleasant times you shared.

Commission a custom portrait of your kitty. There are artists who specialize in pet portraiture. If you’re an artist, even an amateur one, try contacting one of the paint and sip places to see if they do a “paint your pet” night.

A photo or personalized ornament or suncatcher can be a beautiful addition to your home.

There are lots of lovely urns and ornaments to grace your home in your furbaby’s memory. You can choose a paperweight or a cat figurine that incorporates your cat’s ashes.

A custom mosaic portrait stone is a lovely way to remember your cat. A personalized garden stone you make yourself can be even more special.  It can become the center of a memorial garden.

Design an Outdoor Memorial Garden

If you have a place where it is legal to bury your kitty on your property, you can design a beautiful memorial garden.

A garden can be a peaceful and healing place to spend time with your cats that have crossed the Bridge.Plant a tree to the memory of your cat. Add flowers, shrubs, a pretty bench, and markers or garden statues to make a beautiful memory garden. It can be as elaborate or simple as you like.

Unique Ways to Commemorate Your Lost Cat

Getting a stuffed animal that looks like your pet is another way to honor your cat. Cuddle Clones makes remarkably detailed plush replicas of your beloved cat. All that’s missing is the purr.

You can create a quilt or pillow with your pictures of special memories you shared with your cat. If you don’t sew, you can find options on Etsy or Zazzle.

Planting a tree is an evergreen way to honor your cat. If you don’t have a way to plant a tree on your own property, you still have a couple options.  You can plant a tree in a National Park to memorialize your cat or in honor of a friend’s or loved one’s beloved cat. They plant each tree in the National Forest or Park of your choice. Your memorial will include a personalized card mailed to your recipient from you. The memorial program supports forests damaged by disasters.

Another option for planting a tree to commemorate your cat is the Arbor Day’s Trees for Pets program.

Plant a living memorial to your furbaby. Paw Pods offers a line of eco-friendly caskets and urns to decorate with paint or markers before burial. They come with seeds to form a living memorial to your furbaby.

Honor Your Cat That Passed Away With Your Time or Money

Donating your time or money in your cat’s name is one way you can honor him after death. You could volunteer for, or donate to, the rescue where you adopted your cat.

There are feline health research programs that could use your donation. The Winn Feline Foundation oversees funds that support hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, feline infectious peritonitis, and cancer. They have a virtual memorial wall where you can list your cat’s picture as a way to create a memorial for your cat.

The Buttons Fund supports research into chronic kidney disease.  Frankie’s Fund also supports CKD research, as well as irritable bowel disease and asthma with stem cell research.

The Morris Fund has long been known for its work into feline diabetes. But that is only part of what they do to help advance feline health.

Making a memorial donation to the Waggle Foundation to help pay vet bills for someone with a pet in crisis is a way to pay it forward.

Honoring the memory of our cats, and celebrate our bond with them, can be a way to help ease the pain of losing them. A sense of closure is an important part of the healing process. What works for any one person may not help another person. I hope that some of these options spark something that speaks to you in your time of loss or suggests the perfect gift for a friend who is grieving.