A friend messaged me early this morning telling me their pet had passed away during the night. He messaged me because he wasn’t sure what to do with the body. He had considered burying it somewhere but he had read that it was illegal to do so and was hoping I would have an answer for him. Luckily, I had just recently read on Desert Girl’s blog about how the International Veterinary Hospital (IVH) had recently started offering cremation services.
IVH offers two different types of cremation services for your pets. The first option is a standard cremation in which your pet gets cremated with other pets. The cost of this option is KD10. The alternative option is to get an exclusive cremation in which your pet is cremated alone and you are given the ashes to keep. This option is more expensive costing KD23. According to Desert Girl, IVH has urns/boxes you can select from to put the ashes in or you could bring your own box.
Our long time family pet passed away (pictured above) years ago but I still remember how traumatic the experience was. Hopefully the information above will relieve some people of the stress involved with the arrangements involved with their pet. For IVH contact details and a map to their location, here is a link to their [Website]
24 replies on “Pet Cremation”
This is fine example where your blog provides a needed and legitimate public service. Thank you.
Thanks so much for this info. Heartbreaking should anything happen to my Becky, yet good to know …
When did cremation become legal in Kuwait?
It’s a pet not a person
God Bless! They live with you and become your family and more.
ironic comment for that nick name!
Apt nick name for de Villiers.
Or a Cadillac Club.
thanks for your help this morning mark. what is strange is that i am a regular IVH customer but i’ve never come across a brochure, a poster or a pamphlet that talks about this service. their website doesn’t even mention it, not sure why they are so shy about spreading the news.
thanks again for your help.
Recently introduced this service. Their website isn’t updated regularly because it isn’t the only recent service that’s missing.
I don’t have a pet so I don’t know how it would feel to lose one… But having a cremation is kinda weird/spooky. A portrait or picture hung somewhere might be enough to for me
You simply have to despose the somewhere and burying it is illegal. So a cementation is the only possible way. Though I would feel weird to have my pet being burnt with all the others. I would pay a bit extra for a private cementation.
I might bury the body somewhere in the desert.
Still illegal.
I don’t have a pet so I don’t know how it would feel to lose one… But having a cremation is kinda weird/spooky. A portrait or picture hung somewhere might be enough for me
It’s better than a dumpster.
Agreed. This is very helpful information. A few years back, my friend had to dispose of her dog’s body in a dumpster as there was no other option open to her. The poor pup had been poisoned by a neighbor, but that’s another can of worms which needs a separate discussion.
perhaps you can elaborate on that? i have told dog owners in kuwait this actually happens here, much to their disbelief. im just curious as to how this happened with your friend and also where in kuwait she lived.
This was in Jabriya. A neighbor threw a poisoned chicken leg into their yard and the dog ate it. He died a painful death. The only legal option available was to file a “destruction of property” case. Having someone hurt your pet is a legitimate fear for pet owners here. My own dogs are rescues, and they were clearly abused. One was in fact shot at some point before his rescue and still has the bullets in him. Poor boy has some PTSD issues stemming from that.
@Joe: IVH does have pamphlets in the lobby area..I’ve been seeing them from the past few visits in the last couple of months. It’s a blessing that they have come up with this service!
I can’t even think about it
Thanks for the shout-out, Mark. It was a very difficult time and your note to me meant a lot. Reading some of the comments: I don’t think that people who haven’t had/loved pets would understand the depth of emotions when a pet dies. It is really traumatic.
I went back to IVH to pick up my dog’s ashes and spoke to the administrator. She said that they give priority for the cremation services to IVH customers (as the process takes time and it is a difficult job for the techs – especially in the summer). The cremation prices depend on the weight of the pet. The urn prices depend on the ones you select – or you can bring them your own. They were very compassionate, but I had a few issues with the technicians, “Do you want to see her again or should I just put her in the refrigerator?” and when I went to pick up the ashes, the receptionist actually opened the box in front of me to look at her ashes. No service is without fault I guess….
It took IVH years to obtain the license to cremate pets. They started offering the service several years ago.
Desert Girl is a guy?
@Matt Desert Girl is a GIRL! 🙂