>From:    Susie I <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Cremation Outrage
>
>... very unprepared for what I was about to see.  I opened the tin
>and to my horror there were no ashes.  All there is is BONE!  Peices,
>chunks, fragments of BONE!
 
I have had several ferrets and one cat creamated and "ashes" is not a
very accurate term for what you get back.  As someone else here said,
it's more like a coarse sand with some slightly larger pieces, though
nowhere near what you got.
 
One of my past employees was the former General Manager of Pet Heaven
Pet Cemetary here in Miami, and as soon as I found that out, I had
several questions for him.  Since he was no longer employed there and a
good friend, he had no reason to tell me anything less than the truth.
 
My main question was, "Do I really get MY pet's cremains back?"  He said
yes, absolutely.  Of course this only applies to the place mentioned, but
I would imagine you could say the same for most.  He also described the
cremation process in detail, which I don't really remember 100%, but he
did say that after cremation, there is nothing left but pieces of bone
which is put through a grinder to give you the end result.  It sounds
like the place that did Bubbie's cremation skipped this last step.
 
Remember that we are 95-98% water, so in an animal the size of a ferret,
the amount of cremains is very small, maybe 6-8 teaspoons.
 
I'm sorry to hear of your traumatic experience.  It seems to me it didn't
have to be that way.
 
For the ferrets,
Mike
 
* Michael Janke, [log in to unmask]
* South Florida Ferret Help Line, 305-385-6750
*
* Website:  http://www.miamiferret.org
* Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc
*
* Ferret Health List: http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
[Posted in FML issue 4485]