Emma

We had Emma cremated when she passed away in May.  We went through our local vet who uses a service in Champaign.  It took quite a while to get her back.  When we did, they were kind enough to send us a paw print of her.  That was very touching and very much appreciated.  BUT, we got her back in two large plastic urns.  I was  pretty heartbroken when I got home and opened them to see that it wasn't ashes, but more like big bone fragments or something.  We couldn't even fit ONE bag, let alone both, in the urn that we had gotten engraved for her.  Well, needless to say, it's something that's bothered us for months and we just weren't sure what to do about it.  We finally called Katy's Pets in Pekin (they specialize in private pet cremations) and told them our story and asked us if there was anything they could do to help.  They said that they would be happy to take a look and could probably grind down the fragments (as they would normally do as part of their process).  Anyway, we finally had the time to take her in.  The owner was kind enough to interrupt his lunch and take a look right away.  Within about 10 minutes, he came back with our Emma in ONE bag.  He didn't want to badmouth the other place, but he explained that her remains probably should have been in the unit for at least another hour and then ground down into finer, more ash-like cremains.  He was very disappointed that she was sent back in such an "unpresentable" condition.  Anyway, he was just so kind and didn't charge us anything.  We were so appreciative that he was able to help us.  I cannot explain the relief and gratitude we felt to finally be able to put her to rest in the urn we'd chosen.  :)