Taxidermy... dead cat, terrible situation .

[noxlumos]

hi, I really hope someone can help with some advice about taxidermy , costs, proceedure etc as a young lad (16) whose staying with us at the moment's cat has just been killed on the road in front of him and he's understandably utterly distraught. He's had a bad time recently anyway and although I appreciate he may well change his mind in the morning, at the moment he really wants him stuffed as he can't bear the thought of burying him.The cat isn't "damaged" so to speak, so I would imagine it would be possible, but I have no experience of this as it's not something that ever appealed to me, but each to their own, and wondered if anyone else had any advice or had had a pet stuffed.
No daft replies please I'm really not in the mood, apologies to all the very nice aber's who I know wouldn't dream of it, but he might read this and I'd hate for anyone to already add to his understandable upset.

[cat woman]

Hi noxlumos, How very distressing for this young lad to witness the death of his beloved cat I know what he is going through as you know that I went through the same pain back in May with my dearest "Merlin", although I didn't see it happen the grief I felt was so intense it hurt.

I can't help with the Taxidermy enquiry, all I can suggest is for you to go on google, I have looked in "Yellow Pages" for my area ( Hertfordshire) and there wasn't a listing.

Please accept my deepest sympathies at this sad time. X X X :-(

[Catso]

I don't have details, but I understand to have it done properly by a professional is an expensive job. Just think of the time involved.

There aren't a lot of professionals about; you might be able to find an amateur. Whilst cheaper, you might not get as good a job.

To be honest, my own opinion is 'don't do it'. Let the poor cat rest in peace and him to have his memories of his cat.

[WendyS]

Poor lad!

My only (remote) experience of taxidermy is seeing an example on "That's Life" TV programme many years ago where an elderly lady asked an (unqualified) taxidermist to preserve her much loved deceased cat. The end result was a tragically deformed corpse with a twisted face, which turned the audience into fits of laughter at the expense of a much distressed pet owner.
I think this illustrates that taxidermy is therefore a specialist profession and there probably arn't many of them about. I wonder if a local vet could point you in the direction of one, who is bound to be expensive. Alternatively, possibly a wildlife museum might know of one. Possibly the Natural History Museum in London would have a contact if this is the way this young lad really wants to go.

If taxidermy proves an impossible option, an individual pet cremation can be arranged by a local vet, and possibly a small ceremony to inter the ashes as a recognition might allow him to go through the proper grieving process.

[Fitzer]

This chap used to do pets but no longer, however he does give some good advice and a link to other sites, from his price list for wild mammals it would seem that a cat is going to cost a good �700 odd.
http://www.taxidermy.co.uk/assets/taxidermy_pr icing.htm

[RATTER15]

I think the cat has probably been through enough, I think the best thing to do now is to wrap the poor thing in something nice and bury it somewhere special. I wont go into details of the taxidermy procedure but I don't think your guest would want to put a dear friend and pet through it believe me.

[beryllium]

oh Nox, that poor lad. I'm not a great fan of taxidermy, the animals just dont look good...
I had my dogs cremated and put in beautiful boxes with their names engraved on them. You can even get cat shaped ones for our beloved cats and then they're with you in spirit and resting in peace...

http://www.pets2rest.co.uk/pet-memorial.html

there's so many to choose from for him, I hope it a little help... B xxx

[noxlumos]

Hi, thanks all for the help. I'm not a great fan of taxidermy either to be honest, I think it's not a good idea, however at this point it's still what he wants although we are trying topersuade him to either have a nice funeral somewhere in the grounds or have him cremated.
I'll let you all know how we get on with it and thanks once again for all your help, great links, very helpful, I really appreciate it.

[PinkFizz]

Hi Nox - I have no experience of taxidermy as the very thought of it horrifies me,but I also had one of my cats knocked down and killed in front of my very eyes by a speeding motorist as I stood in my front garden talking to a friend.It was the most awful thing to see and I couldnt bury her for hours as I was convinced she would wake up.But in the evening I took her up to the woods,dug a hole under an oak tree,wrapped her in a blanket and buried her.Please pass on my sincere condolences to your young friend.xx

[noxlumos]

Thanks all, persuaded him once he'd had a good think about it to bury his cat in the Orchard which he did this afternoon. He's still very upset about it as you can imagine, butI think he realised that it was the better option long term after he got over the very shocked phase like you Pink. Thanks all again.

[Kingaroo]

There's a very sweet children's book you might want to find for your young friend called "The Tenth Good Thing about Barney." A child's cat, Barney, dies and he tries to come up with 10 good things to say about Barney at the funeral. He easily comes up with 9, and through the course of the book decides the 10th is that Barney's body will return to the earth and help plants grow. That might be some solace to the poor fellow who hated the thought of putting his friend in the earth.

[drgnrdr]

Just wanted to add...I thought about getting my cat "freeze dried" by a company in South California, much better than taxiderm...but I went ahead and got him cremated, they put his paw print on a ceramic plate and it was real nice.
Maybe he can make a stone, from hobby shop place, and make something nice for him, in memory. :(