For Bereaved Pet Lovers, an Alternative Takes Root

Losing a beloved pet can be a traumatic experience for many, but a Marina del Rey-based company has found a way to keep the memories of animals alive by transforming them into potted plants.

Robert Marshall, 29, started Catnip & Dogwood to provide pet lovers with an alternative to burials and simple cremations.

“It’s living, it’s breathing. It’s . . . a nice difference to something that is very sad,” he said of the plants.

For $50 to $100, the company provides customers with a “pet memorial”: a plant of their choice potted with the ashes of the animal, a small wooden plaque carved and painted in the animal’s likeness and a certificate of planting. “It’s very tastefully done,” Marshall said.

The New Jersey native, who said he has always had a flair for the unusual, came up with the idea about eight years ago after his own cat died of feline leukemia.

The cat loved to sleep in the sun, cuddled among all the plants, in a bay window, Marshall said.

After she died, Marshall kept the cremated remains in her favorite spot. He planted her ashes in a cattail plant, and placed it in the window.

“There was a feeling of life out of it. . . . It was very comforting,” he said. When another family pet died earlier this year, Marshall decided to plant it as well, and to start the business.

The plants are pretty to look at and are more practical than burials because they are mobile, Marshall said. But for many avid pet lovers, the decision to have a pet planted is a difficult one.

“It’s an unusual idea, and people have to think about it for a while. People are emotionally distressed at a time like that, to say the least. You’re not dealing with someone who just happens to have a pet . . . we’re talking about a friend, a companion,” he said.

Two years ago, Ray and Joyce McLeod’s cat contracted an intestinal disorder and had to be put to sleep. Instead of burying Fido, which would have cost $300 to $1,500, Ray McLeod said, they had her cremated and kept her ashes in a tin box.

The McLeods decided to have Fido planted because they thought it would be a good way to remember their cat. They also were inspired by the “ashes to ashes” verse in the Bible.

“Death always brings forth life in one way or another. . . . It’s just kind of a living memorial,” Ray McLeod said.

The memorial can be created for animals who have recently died, or for those who died and were cremated years ago, Marshall said. Catnip & Dogwood, however, does not perform cremations.

For those not so adept at caring for plants, the company supplies silk plants that require no care, Marshall said.

The live plants come with a 30-day guarantee and can always be repotted without losing the ashes of the animal.