FAQ

Being a pet owner is a significant responsibility and at no time is this felt more than when you need to consider the option of euthanasia. This will be a very emotional time for you, but being able to save your pet from any unnecessary pain and suffering will be an incredible comfort.

If you are making the decision to euthanize, your veterinarian can be your medical guide for you at this time. They will be able to discuss the various options available to you in a thoughtful and caring way. No matter what decision you make, always trust that you have your pet’s best interests at heart.

Preparing for your pet’s euthanasia will help to alleviate some of your stress and help to ensure your final moments together are loving and peaceful. Try to schedule the euthanasia for a day when you will have time to spend with your pet afterward and won’t feel rushed. If you would prefer to say goodbye at home, there are mobile vet services available.

This is a good time to also consider your next steps, such as choosing to bury your pet or opt for a private cremation. Our team is here to talk you through the options available to you – feel free to contact us today.

To ensure the ashes of your pet, and only your pet, are returned to you, we have carefully developed our Pet Tracking System to provide complete transparency throughout every stage of the cremation process. We assign a unique identification number to your pet at the time of booking and create an ID tag that contains your pet’s details (name, breed, and location). This ID tag follows your pet throughout their journey and is checked and double-checked at many points throughout the process so you can be absolutely sure that you are receiving your pet’s ashes.

We’re here to support you in any way we can. Because we’ve been through it too.

Our animal-loving family is dedicated to offering personal and affordable pet cremation and memorial services. We understand how difficult it is to say goodbye to a beloved family member, and the importance of honoring their memory. Our team is made up of animal lovers who share our strong family values and ethics and uphold our reputation at all times. We’re here to help you through your grief and provide you with the very best support and personalized service, whenever and wherever you may need us.

We service all throughout Knoxville

Travel times and costs vary according to location.

Simply contact our friendly team and we can organize everything for you to suit your individual needs.

Visit our Contact Us page to learn more about the services we offer and how you can make a booking.

We understand that the loss of your beloved pet can happen at short notice, so you can contact us whenever you are ready.

If you are booking euthanasia with your vet, please book with us once you have a confirmed date and time. That way, we can ensure prompt and seamless service.

After your pet has passed away at home, you may wish to keep them at home with you for a little while to allow your family and pets to say a final goodbye. We recommend contacting our friendly team as soon as possible to arrange a collection of your pet at a time that suits you.

Home collections are available 7 days a week at an additional cost.

Your pet will be collected within 2 hours of receiving your booking if urgent, or you can book a pre-arranged time.

If you are booking a home euthanasia with your vet, please let us know once you have confirmed the date and time. That way, we can ensure prompt and seamless service.

We understand that losing a pet is an emotionally difficult time. That’s why we’ve made it our highest priority to treat your beloved pet with dignity at all times.

A key area that we have given a lot of consideration to is the careful loading, transportation and unloading of your pet.

Upon arrival at your property, we will assess the location of your pet and explain the process to you, including how we will load your beloved animal into our customized vehicle in a caring and dignified way.

Our costs are determined by the size of your pet, the location of your pet, whether we need to collect on a weekday or after hours, and how you choose to memorialize your pet.

We always strive to provide value for money, as well as peace of mind, which is why we include a range of simple, practical vessels in our standard cremation price. We also understand the importance of being able to honor your pet’s memory in a special and meaningful way, with a selection of urns and memorabilia for you to choose from at an optional cost.

View our range of urns and memorabilia.

We offer pre-payment plans to help ease the cost of your pet cremation, allowing you to make regular fortnightly or monthly payments prior to needing to use our services. Although pre-planning is often not a pleasant discussion, it can certainly provide you and your family with peace of mind when the time comes to say goodbye.

We are committed to providing you with all the caring support you need. Contact our friendly team today to discuss a pre-payment plan to suit your personal needs.

Our approach has always been to treat your pets like they are our own. Pets have always been a special part of our lives and a pre-requisite for working at Heavenly Paws is that you are an animal lover and have had pets yourself. This helps us appreciate what our clients are going through and why each and every pet deserves the care and respect any other member of the family would receive.

One of the hardest decisions when losing your pet is what to do with their ashes. You may choose to scatter their ashes in a place that holds special meaning to you or to celebrate their memory through a special urn, memorial, or keepsake that you can keep close to remind you of the life you shared together.

There is no right or wrong way to memorialize your pet. If you decide to pay tribute to their memory through a physical piece that contains your pet’s ashes, there are a number of options available. These include:

• Vessels and urns
• Plaques and burial markers
• Jewellery, keepsakes, and memorial items
• Paw prints and fur clippings

View our range of urns and memorabilia.

Engraving is such a personal choice and everyone is different. Some people just want their pet’s name or nickname engraved, while others find dates, breeds, or pedigree names important. Often people like to include a special memory, a quote, or heartfelt sentiment, a few of which are provided below for inspiration. Please speak to our team about the engraving allowance for your chosen product as space may be limited. View our range of urns and memorabilia to see available character limits.

A Loving Companion
Always By My Side
Always In Our Hearts
Always Loved
Always Remembered
Forever Missed
Forever In Our Hearts
Forever Loved
Loyal And Faithful Friend
Loyal Friend & Companion
Loyal Friend & Protector
My Best Friend
Rest In Peace
Until We Meet Again

People choose cremation for many reasons. The cremation process is clean, sanitary, and endorsed by an increasing number of people from all walks of life and faiths. Some choose cremation so they can keep the ashes of their beloved pet with them at home. Others prefer to have the ashes prepared for scattering at a meaningful location. Cremation is simple, professional, and affordable. Plus, these days many people rent, have very little garden space or do not want to leave their pet behind when moving house.

We genuinely believe we can offer a dignified cremation service to all pets big or small.

Dogs and cats are the most common animals we look after, however, it’s also possible to cremate other animals, including pocket pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, mice, rats, and birds, to fish and reptiles, and then to larger animals such Great Danes.

During the cremation process, a pet’s body is placed within a large cremation chamber where, through heat and evaporation, the body is reduced to its basic elements and referred to as cremated remains or “ashes”.

Yes, we can cremate items with your pet such as their favorite blanket or toy, their bedding, and their collar.
The high heat of our cremators means that little to no traces of these items will remain to co-mingle with your pet’s ashes.

Cremation will take place within 48 hours of finalizing your booking details. This may vary if over a weekend.

Many metals, other than light alloys, remain after cremation. However, we are conscious that many clients would rather not have metal co-mingled with their pet’s ashes so we remove this after the cremation. Please let us know upon booking if you would like to have any surgical metal returned with your pet’s ashes.

There are a number of reasons why pets of similar weights may produce a different amount of ashes. These include:

Bone density
Lower bone density can result in fewer ashes being created. Lower bone density is often seen in older pets, or in cases of illness (such as cancer).

Bone structure
Different breeds will produce varying amounts of ashes, even if they are similar weights. For example, a Maine Coon cat will produce more ashes than a Siamese cat.

Cremation temperature, time, and processing
Longer cremation times and higher temperatures will often result in finer ashes being produced, which gives the impression of fewer ashes being produced (as they become more compact when they settle). Longer cremation times also remove more impurities during the process, resulting in fewer ashes being produced.

Items cremated with a pet
Paper and some other natural materials can resist complete combustion (particularly items heavy in carbon), which will then contribute to the volume of ashes being produced.

Our aim is to return your pet’s ashes to you within 5 working days of finalizing the details of your booking unless other arrangements have been made. This may vary depending on your location, and the urn and memorialization options you choose.

We pride ourselves on our strict and thorough Pet Tracking System, which provides complete transparency throughout every stage of the cremation process. So you can be sure that the ashes of your pet, and only your pet, will be returned to you.