Cat mummification

Would you consider having your cat mummified?

There's a company in Salt Lake City that does it and charges thousands of dollars, yikes! It takes up to 6 months to complete, too.

http://www.summum.org/mummification/pets/animalcosts.shtml

 

I'd never consider doing this to any of my cats. I know they wouldn't know it, but I still know it's not for my cats. I know some people that would probably consider doing this type of thing. I think what makes someone happy may not make others. I think it might make the acceptance part of a cat's death, than burying them in the back yard.

 

I have never seen a mummified cat before. However I have seen a mummified Arowana. Looked horrible to me.

Frank Inn had another idea. He had trained many animals which became famous on the silver screen. One of them was Higgins the canine star of the popular Benji series. Very often he took care of his proteges when their acting careers were over. When they died, he cremated them and kept the ashes in urns, with instructions that when he died, the urns were to be buried together with him.

 

I think that's a perfectly reasonable request and easy enough to follow through with. It sure is a lot cheaper than spending thousands on having them mummified, too, yikes.

 

I wouldn't mummify my cat even though I have joked about having him stuffed once he dies because he has such a beautiful coat. If it weren't so expensive I probably would have him stuffed and put in my office. I just love him to bits.

 

I think money wasn't his main concern. He loved those animals and I suppose he felt that he would like to be with them when he's dead.

 

It never ever crossed my mind to mummify my cats. It would be horrible for me to do that.

 

Oh my. How would you even know your cat was really in there? Would you take a look? Thanks for the link it's an interesting subject.

 

You really wouldn't. I know I wouldn't look. I'd have to cut open the case to even do so, which would waste all the effort and certainly the money. I guess you'd just have to trust that they actually put the cat in there.

 

Personally I find the concept a little disturbing, knowing that there is a deceased body sitting right inside the case. I can see how other people might choose to get it done though. They probably feel comforted by having their cat still with them in a sense.

Strangely, I can understand people taxing their cat to a taxerdermist... even though technically it's just as odd as mummification. At least with taxidermy your pet looks a lot more like your pet than the mummy cases. I do realize the historical signifcance of mummification though, but I don't know if there are many people alive who still believe beings and material objects need to be mummified to move on to an afterlife.

When it comes to my own cats I would rather cremate or bury them. Each to their own I guess.

 

Ha! I do find it kind of odd that you're more disturbed by the mummification side of things considering it's going to be more like a casket or urn....than you are by the idea of taking it to a taxidermist. I have no interest in seeing my dead cat actually sitting on the desk next to me and it weirds me out that people want to continue petting them and such later...

 

Oh gee, it's not a whole lot different from ashes sitting in an urn on a mantel. Though, come to think of it, that's a little odd in and of itself.

 

Come to think of it, considering that we don't even know if the cat is really inside there, we might as well just pay to have a statue made in the likeness of our cat. That's assuming that we can bear looking at the statue after the cat is gone. I know I can't.

 

You certainly could, but the people who are going through the process of "mummifying it" are not the same people who would be satisfied with a statue that just looked like their cat. I'm sure many have more sentimental reasons for having the cat inside, similar to the urn idea, even if they can't prove the cat is really there.

 

It's not for me. I wouldn't be interested in mummifying my cat. Honestly I would just want to bury her and have a small stone marker with her name. I know they're going for an Egyptian look but it looks kind of tacky.

 

I suppose there are people like that. Could be the same people who keep pictures of their dear departed family members. Myself, I would very much prefer to remember my cats in my dreams. They look so much more real than a piece of metal sitting on the bookshelf.