For thousands of years, people have found ways to remember the beloved family pet after it passes away.

The Egyptians were perhaps the first to memorialize animals. Cats, dogs, monkeys and even gazelles were often mummified and placed in elaborate limestone tombs adjacent to their masters.

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Today, the urn is among the more popular means of storing animal ashes.

"An urn we carry now has a place for a picture. They can have it laser engraved, too," said Karen Sanders, manager and owner of Sleepy Hollow Pet Memorial Park & Crematory in Anderson, Calif.

According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 71.1 million homes own a pet, and the pet-services industry is estimated to bring in about $22 billion in 2008.

Many Options

Owners have a myriad of options when it comes to preserving their pet’s memory. One of the most common ways is through cremation.

Cremation services are usually available through veterinary clinics and can cost between $75 and $350. Crematorium prices may vary, but places like Sleepy Hollow also offer private cremations and a wider selection of urns.

Some owners like to scatter their pet's remains in their favorite locales, instead.

Freezing Fido

An unusual means of preservation that has grown in popularity is the concept of lyophilization, or freeze-drying.

More widely known for things like space food, taxidermists and pet owners have begun using freeze-drying techniques to keep pet remains intact without decomposition.

Web sites such as Perpetualpet.net claim this allows owners to "never have to let go."

This process keeps the entire body as is, which is different from taxidermy, where only the hide that is preserved. Freeze-drying is much more expensive than cremation, with prices ranging from $395 to over $2,000, depending on the size of the animal.

Turning Remains Into Diamonds

Cremated remains can be put into a variety of uses.

If dogs are a man's best friend and diamonds are a girl's best friend, then many pet owners may be eager to take advantage of pet jewelry.

Companies such as LifeGem take the carbon from a pet's ashes to create yellow, blue, red or green diamonds. Colorless diamonds only are available up to half a carat, but for $24,999, owners can get a 1.5 carat red or green diamond. All that is needed is either a handful of hair or a cup of cremated remains.

While LifeGem directly changes the ashes into diamonds, some companies produce jewelry that just retains the ashes. Ashestoashes.com sells memorial vessels that hold material in sterling silver or 24 carat gold over silver necklaces.

The company Floramorial renders cremated ash into a fertile soil mixture that owners can use to plant trees, bushes or decorative flowers as living memorials. Cost for pets runs about $295.

On a less expensive scale, the Humane Society of the United States suggests contacting a community park about sponsoring a bench or tree in your pet's honor. The International Association of Pet Cemeteries has established the second Sunday in September as National Pet Memorial Day, during which most cemeteries will host special ceremonies or open houses.

Sanders said some people will read poems during private funeral services for their pets. Many Web sites have cropped up that allow pet owners to post pictures and stories of the deceased for free. Apetcemetery.com also allows anyone to send esympathy cards to someone suffering a loss.

Although there are many new and elaborate ways that owners can say goodbye to their loved ones, Sanders said the burial ritual hasn't lost its niche.

"In the case of people that elect to go with a private burial, about half will have a formal viewing and they will go out to the gravesite during the burial," she said. "Usually, they will bring their immediate family. They will come out to visit a couple times a year." More Pet Info:

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