Saying goodbye to your pet in Lakewood, your way
By our estimate, about 28,500 households in Lakewood have a dog or a cat, and roughly 2,400 of those pets die each year. Every one of those families decides how to say goodbye. Here's how to plan yours.
- Real costs, not guesswork
- Ideas for including children gently
- Options that serve Lakewood by email
Lakewood, California
Where a goodbye can happen in Lakewood
Lakewood families span generations, and a pet's death may be a child's first experience of loss. Use plain words, avoid saying the pet went to sleep, and let children help choose a keepsake or draw a picture. Older family members sometimes grieve more quietly; checking in with them a week or two later is often appreciated more than they will say.
Grief does not follow a timetable, and in a busy part of Los Angeles County it can feel like there is no pause to take. If you are still struggling weeks later, pet-loss support groups and phone lines around the region are there for exactly that. Talking with someone who understands is not an overreaction; it is a normal part of losing a companion.
In a smaller place like Lakewood, a pet farewell usually happens at home or on the family's own land, because that's where the pet lived and where there's space. The vet often comes out for the goodbye, and cremation happens at a crematory in a larger centre such as Long Beach. That means the farewell and the handover are yours to shape, without a venue to book.
Lakewood's population is around 78,010, the 103rd-largest of the 307 California communities we cover. Long Beach, roughly 7 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Lakewood run from there.
Our pages for Bellflower (3 miles), Cerritos (3 miles) and Paramount (4 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Lakewood as well.
Our estimate
28,500
How many dog- or cat-owning households Lakewood has (estimate)
How we calculated this
78,010 ÷ 2.5 = 31,204 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 28,500. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
2,400
dog and cat deaths per year in Lakewood, our estimate
How we calculated this
28,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 2,400 a year. Treat it as a minimum.
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.
The published sources behind those figures are American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
How California thinks about funerals and cremation
In California, where about 70.5%[5] of people are cremated, many families already have a family urn on a shelf or a plot of ashes in a memorial garden. Some choose to keep their pet's ashes alongside, or to bring them to the same place. If that matters to you, ask the cemetery or memorial garden what they allow before promising it to the family.
The California percentage above is from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) and refers to human funerals. Treat it as context for Lakewood, not as a count of pets.
When the weather shapes the goodbye
Even in mild Lakewood weather, a pet's body shouldn't be left outside or in a car while you wait for people to arrive. Keep them indoors, somewhere cool and away from direct sun, with a blanket beneath. If the wait will be longer than a day, ask the vet or crematory to hold your pet and plan a viewing.
Rain peaks in February in Lakewood, and a grave dug in waterlogged ground fills quickly. If the soil is soggy, choose a slightly raised spot, keep a board and tarp nearby and lay your pet to rest as soon as the hole is ready. Or cremate instead and lay the ashes in the ground on the first dry weekend.
Budgeting for a farewell in Lakewood
The ceremony itself is rarely the expensive part of a pet funeral in Lakewood. The cost sits in the body care underneath it: private dog cremation averages about $260[6] in the US, and pet cemetery burial about $831[7]. A viewing may be included or charged by the half hour, and a home farewell can cost almost nothing.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for California: California costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Local rules worth checking in California
Beaches, rivers and lakes often have their own scattering rules, set by a different authority from parks, and some ask you to scatter a set distance from shore. Here's the general picture for California; for the exact spot, check with whoever manages that land or water.
The official California local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Lakewood.
We keep California's burial and scattering rules in one place: the California rules summary. Before a home burial in Lakewood, also ask the city whether local ordinances add anything.
Planning a farewell in Lakewood, step by step
- Decide who needs to be there. Pulling a few close people together within a day is manageable; the wider group can be invited to something later.
- Pick the place: cemetery, crematory farewell room, the route of a favorite walk, the garden, or simply home.
- Check anything that needs permission, for example a burial on somebody else's property or scattering ashes in a public park.
- Plan a loose running order: gather, open, share memories, a reading or song, a ritual, the farewell.
- Arrange the handover or burial for straight after the ceremony, so nobody waits around.
- Look after yourself afterwards. Have a meal, accept offered help, and leave the lead hanging until you feel like moving it.
Remembering your pet in Lakewood
In a close-knit suburb like Lakewood, neighbors often knew your pet by name, and it can be surprisingly hard to answer their kind questions. It is fine to keep things brief, or to let a family member share the news. A small gathering in the backyard, a few words and a favorite photo, is enough of a farewell for many households here.
or see what other families chose in the poll results, The services page is the place to compare what is included, go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles, try the free planning tools. If you live between Lakewood and Fresno, Sacramento, San Diego and Los Angeles, either page applies. Every other community in California, and all of the United States, is listed too.
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.
When would you hold the farewell?
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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
Will I have to travel to Long Beach to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Long Beach (roughly 7 miles from Lakewood) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
How many pet owners live in Lakewood?
By our estimate, about 28,500 households in Lakewood have at least one dog or cat, and around 2,400 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 78,010, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Lakewood?
There is no frozen-ground season here; average lows stay above freezing all year. The other pressure point is August, when highs around 84°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
How do California attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the California human cremation rate at about 70.5%[5]. We show it on the Lakewood page because pet aftercare choices tend to track it: where cremation is normal for people, communal and private pet cremation are both easy to find.
Is it normal to grieve this hard after a pet's funeral?
Yes. In an RSPCA survey of more than 4,000 bereaved owners, 66.9%[9] said they were surprised by how intense their grief was. The farewell often brings the loss home rather than ending it. Be patient with yourself, keep eating and sleeping as best you can, and talk to someone who understands. Our grief check-in can help you notice when it may be time to ask for more support.
Is an outdoor pet farewell practical in Lakewood?
For most of the year, yes. Lakewood's mild climate makes a garden ceremony, a tree planting or a gathering at a favorite park easy to arrange within days. Have a covered area or an indoor room ready in case of rain, keep the outdoor part short for older relatives, and don't leave your pet's body outside while you wait.
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] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for private dog cremation at $260 (range $206-$473). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [7] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for pet cemetery burial of a dog at $831 (range $659-$1,513). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [8] 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.
- [9] 66.9% of respondents were surprised by how intense their grief was after losing a pet. RSPCA — Pet Loss Survey Results, 2026.
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