Whenever my mom serves tea, she likes to mention that her sugar tin came from the local crematorium: the little flowered canister once housed her cat's ashes. Everyone usually opts for honey.

We laugh about it but I know that, for her, the tin has real meaning. Her cat's remains are now under a bush in the yard, but the can serves as a visual daily reminder of the last leg of their relationship. It's kind of sweet that she has the opportunity to think of him every time she reaches for the sugar.

Today's pet lovers might be chided for indulging their furry friends while they're alive, but there's nothing new about going to great lengths to honor a dead pet. The Ancient Egyptians mummified their cats and made them their own pyramids, complete with dead mice for them to enjoy in the afterlife. Today, there are pet cemeteries that will inter your ashes along with your animals'. (At a pet cemetery near New York, there's one cat grave I saw that says “Here we sleep forever, I and my beloved Bibi, my loving companion for fourteen years, together in life, together in death,” while another gravestone lists a couple and their sixteen cats.) There is also at least one company that specializes in scattering pet ashes from planes over public parks.

Personally, I don't think I'd go those routes. But I wouldn't object to, say, saving a bit of Amos's hair. I'm not sure what I'd do with it. I suppose it would be nice to do something vaguely meaningful. Fortunately, the grieving animal lover has many options for figuring out how to best honor a departed friend without having to charter a flight over the Sierra Nevada. Here are some of the more interesting memorial options I’ve encountered:

Memorial Pendants

A small amount of your pet’s remains or a clipping of hair can be placed into lots of different kind of pendants or lockets. Plenty are available on Etsy, but you can also purchase ones that are especially made for this purpose and are shaped like bones and balls of yarns. The notion that a bone should represent a dog and yarn should represent a cat seems sort of cliche to me, but I’m an over-thinker. (I'd totally let my son have a pink casket.)

On PetsWeLoved.com, a site that caters to those looking to memorialize their pets in jewelry, my eye went straight for a round charm with a little indent in it. It looked the most designer-y of all the options—almost an Elsa Peretti-esque abstraction. Only after clicking on it did I read the text: It’s supposed to be a pet food dish. That’s not really the object I’d pick to convey the essence of Amos for posterity. But you could pretend it’s a Rolo.

Paw Print Castings

A majority of the commissions received by the Washington couple behind pets-paws.com are from dog and cat owners who have either recently lost a pet or are about to lose one. Make an impression of your animal's paw using a kit that they’ll send you, or you can use Play-Doh (their site demonstrates how to do this). The resulting impressions (which are made in brass, copper, bronze, or aluminum) start at $59 and can be made into wearable pendants.

Ash Artwork

Michigan artist Gretchen Kiefer has been recently advertising custom pet portraits with a twist: She mixes up to four ounces of an animal's cremains with plaster and uses it to paint a picture of your departed loved one. Her custom made plaster paintings start at $325.

Nose Prints

Your dog’s nose has been in some interesting places—and now it’ll live on in your jewelry box. Robin Durnbaugh of Fort Wayne, Indiana, creates pendants using an imprint of your dog’s nose. She can also incorporate your fingerprint on the pendant’s backside. The nose print jewelry can be made in chrome, silver, white gold, or yellow gold. Prices range from $195 to $755.

Ash Diamonds

Send a sample of hair or eight ounces of cremated remains to LifeGem and they’ll turn the carbon into a diamond in whatever cut or color you’d like. Prices start at $2,690. 

DNA Helix Pendant

Submit a sample of your pet’s DNA (taken from hair or a cheek swab) to Perpetua and they’ll somehow use this to create a magnified replica of his or her DNA helix, made using a sample you provide. These pieces wouldn’t visually remind you of your pet—unless your pet had crazy big DNA. But they are pretty enough. The website, which offers the helixes in several colors and styles starting at $75, suggests the pendants are a good way to “Keep your companion close always, even at those swanky parties. They are a great conversation starter.”

Homemade Can Memorial

At Instructables, user Ninzerbean has a cute step-by-step on how to make a memorial for your dog using an old sardine can, some of your pets hair and photo. I really love the addition of the dog’s collar as a border around the edge. And what dog wouldn’t love spending eternity surrounded by the sweet smell of smoked fish?

[Images via Andy Castro on Flickr, Etsy, Pets We Loved, People Pets, and Life Gem]

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