A proper farewell for your pet in Cerritos
About 17,000 Cerritos households share their home with a dog or cat, by our estimate. When the time comes, a small farewell helps. This page covers where to hold it, what it costs and who to call.
- Home, garden or viewing-room farewells
- Witnessed cremation and cemetery burial explained
- Plan it all within a day if you need to
Cerritos, California
Choosing where the farewell happens in Cerritos
Children in Cerritos often have close friends who knew their pet from sleepovers and birthday parties, and those friends may grieve too. Let your child tell them. Some families invite a few children over to plant something or decorate a stone together, which turns a sad afternoon into a shared memory. Keep explanations simple and truthful, and expect questions to come back for weeks.
Many Cerritos households are busy with work, school and extracurriculars, and a pet's death can land in the middle of an already packed week. A small farewell still matters: a few quiet minutes in the living room before collection, with each person saying goodbye in their own way. Nothing more is required. You can hold a larger gathering later, once the ashes come home.
In-home vets are fewer around smaller places like Cerritos, and one may cover a wide area, so a home goodbye often needs booking several days ahead. If timing is uncertain, ask your usual clinic whether they'd visit in an emergency, or whether they have a side room with its own door so you can avoid the waiting room.
With roughly 46,367 residents, Cerritos is the 172nd-largest of the 307 California communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Anaheim, about 9 miles (15 km) away, which is where some providers serving Cerritos are based.
For a second opinion on price, Norwalk (3 miles, a larger centre), Lakewood (3 miles) and Bellflower (4 miles) are close enough that their providers cover Cerritos routinely. Two written quotes tell you more than any price list.
Our estimate
17,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Cerritos
How we calculated this
46,367 ÷ 2.5 = 18,547 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 17,000. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
1,400
Estimated dog and cat losses in Cerritos each year
How we calculated this
17,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 1,400 a year. The real figure is unlikely to be lower.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
39%[3]
39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
Sources for the statistics above: Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
How California thinks about funerals and cremation
A high cremation rate, about 70.5%[5] in California, can make families assume every pet cremation is individual. It often isn't. Communal cremation returns no ashes, and 'partitioned' can mean several pets in the chamber at once. If you want your own pet's ashes back for a scattering or burial later, ask for 'private' or 'individual' in writing.
Source for the California number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Cerritos, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
Planning around heat, cold and rain in Cerritos
Because Cerritos rarely has long freezes, a garden burial is usually practical year-round, where local rules allow it. The main planning question is the ground itself: heavy clay or rock can make digging a deep enough grave a two-person job. Start early in the day and have a spade, a fork and a tarp for the soil.
Gentle weather in Cerritos suits the kind of farewell pets would have enjoyed: a picnic on a favorite field, a slow walk along a river path, a barbecue with the neighbours who threw the ball back over the fence. Bring a folding table, a framed photo and a water bowl for any dog guests, and let it be sociable.
Pet funeral and burial prices for families in Cerritos
Being present costs extra. One US pricing guide says viewing or witnessing a cremation typically adds $25 to $100 [6], and the posted surcharges we found run from $25 to $350, with a median of about $125 by our estimate [7]. Ask Cerritos crematories whether a short viewing is already included before paying for a separate appointment.
The California price table breaks costs down by product; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Burial, scattering and gathering rules in California
Before you plan a graveside ceremony in the garden or a scattering on a favorite walk, check the local rules. They're mostly about protecting water and other people's land, so they focus on depth, distance from wells and streams, and permission from whoever owns the land. Here's the picture for California.
Not sure which office covers Cerritos? The California local government directory is the official list.
The rules that apply across California (home burial, scattering and who oversees pet cremation) are summarized on our California page. Cerritos may add its own conditions, so check with the city or county before digging.
A pet funeral within a day: how to do it
- Call the nearest emergency vet wherever you are. They can confirm the death, keep your pet cool and explain what's possible locally.
- Decide whether to bring your pet home or arrange cremation near where you are. Crossing a border or boarding a plane with a body is rarely simple.
- If you cremate away from home, find out how you'll get the ashes back: kept until you can pick them up, or posted with tracking and a signature on delivery.
- Say a short goodbye at the clinic before you leave, even if it feels unfinished. The fuller farewell can happen at home.
- Keep the vet's paperwork and receipts together, since an airline, a border official or your insurer may want to see them.
- Hold the family farewell once your pet or the ashes are home, which gives everyone who didn't travel a share in the goodbye.
After the farewell: ways to keep the memory close
In families that follow Korean, Filipino, Chinese or Indian customs, there may be set days for remembering the dead, and some people extend those to a pet. Others choose a church prayer, a quiet family meal or nothing formal at all. Whatever you choose is valid. If the loss is still weighing on you after a month, a pet loss support group or counselor can help.
or look at how readers voted in our polls, Every option Cerritos families choose between is on the services page, there are guides for the big decisions and articles for the details, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures. Close to Cerritos we also cover San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno and San Francisco; the full list for California and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
What kind of goodbye feels right for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Who would you want at your pet's farewell?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Farewell & memorial service planner
Build a simple goodbye: who, where, readings, rituals and a checklist.
Aftercare options compared
Compare private, communal and water cremation with burial on cost, timing and what comes home.
Questions people ask
How does Cerritos's weather affect pet aftercare?
August is the hottest month in Cerritos, with average highs around 85°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Winters are mild, with average lows staying above freezing, so outdoor burial or scattering is usually possible year round.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Cerritos?
Usually yes. Norwalk is about 3 miles away, Lakewood is about 3 miles away and Bellflower is about 4 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Where are the providers that serve Cerritos actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Anaheim, about 9 miles away. That is normal for a town this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Cerritos and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Is cremation common in California?
For people, yes: about 70.5%[5] of California deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Cerritos follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
What's a viewing, and do I need one?
A viewing is unhurried time with your pet in a private room, usually at the crematory, vet or a funeral home, before cremation or burial. You don't need one, but it helps if you weren't there at the end, if relatives are arriving from out of town, or if children need to see that their pet has really died.
Should young children come to a pet's farewell?
Usually yes, if they want to, with a simple role and a way to step out. Use plain words like 'died' rather than 'put to sleep', explain what they'll see, and keep it short. In a large RSPCA survey, 93.4%[9] of parents wanted better guidance on helping children through pet loss, so you're far from alone in wondering.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] The NFDA projected California's cremation rate at 70.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Memorials.com's pet cremation cost guide says viewing or witnessing the cremation typically adds $25–$100. Memorials.com – Pet Cremation Cost Guide 2026, 2026.
- [7] Posted surcharges to witness or view a pet cremation range from $25 to $350, with a median of about $125 across four data points. Our estimate: median of [$25 guide low, $100 guide high, $150 NC provider, $350 VA provider]. How we calculate.
- [8] Across 15 US pet cemeteries' posted starting burial prices, the median entry price was about $600. Our estimate: median of starting prices [400,185,300,550,575,99,660.44,730,740,850,850,800,850,600,600]. How we calculate.
- [9] 93.4% of parents in the RSPCA survey wanted better guidance on helping children through pet loss. RSPCA — Pet Loss Survey Results, 2026.
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