Saying goodbye to your pet in Arvada, your way
By our estimate, about 45,000 households in Arvada have a dog or a cat, and roughly 3,750 of those pets die each year. Every one of those families decides how to say goodbye. Here's how to plan yours.
- A simple running order you can print
- Graveside and home ceremony guidance
- Help with timing around the weather
Arvada, Colorado
A goodbye that fits life in Arvada
Children in Arvada often grow up with pets, and a pet's death may be their first experience of loss. A simple farewell, such as drawing a picture, keeping a collar or planting a flower in spring, can help them understand. Receiving the ashes after an individual cremation lets you hold a small ceremony when the family is ready, perhaps on a summer trip to the mountains.
Grief after losing a pet can be heavier than people expect, especially through Colorado's long, dark winter evenings. Pet loss support groups, counselors and hotlines serve the Denver area, and many meet online. Many people find a single conversation lightens things. A neighbor or friend who knew your pet may welcome the chance to share a memory, and your veterinarian can suggest where to start.
Children are often part of an Arvada pet farewell, and the practical side is easier than parents fear. Give each child a small job, such as choosing a flower, drawing a picture to go with the pet, or holding the candle. Keep the ceremony short, use plain words like 'died', and let children step out whenever they want.
Arvada is home to about 122,901 people, the 7th-largest of the 36 Colorado communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Denver, about 7 miles (11 km) away, which is where some providers serving Arvada are based.
The closest communities we cover are Wheat Ridge (2 miles), Westminster (4 miles) and Denver (7 miles, a larger centre). Providers serving those towns often travel to Arvada too, so it can be worth asking them for a quote.
Our estimate
45,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Arvada
How we calculated this
122,901 ÷ 2.5 = 49,160 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 45,000. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
3,750
dog and cat deaths per year in Arvada, our estimate
How we calculated this
45,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 3,750 a year. A floor, not a ceiling.
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 numbers above come from American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, if you'd like to read the original sources.
How Colorado thinks about funerals and cremation
About 77.4%[5] of people in Colorado are cremated, so most families here have been to a cremation service and know how one feels. That familiarity carries over to pets: a viewing before cremation, a few words said and ashes brought home is a pattern people recognise. It also means crematories are well established, and a farewell room or witnessed cremation is easier to find.
For the Colorado figure we rely on NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Read it as a picture of local custom around death and remembrance in Arvada rather than as pet data.
Seasons, timing and ceremonies in Arvada
Snow and ice across January, February, March, November and December can delay collection and make roads unsafe for relatives driving in. If your pet is old or very ill and a winter storm is forecast, it's reasonable to ask your vet now how a home goodbye and collection would work in bad weather, rather than on the night.
Home vet visits still happen through Arvada winters, but icy steps and early darkness slow everyone down. Clear and grit the path, leave the porch light on and book a daytime slot in December if you can. Warm the room well beforehand too; an old pet who is shivering is harder to settle.
Where the money goes in an Arvada pet funeral
It helps to see the whole bill at once. By our estimate, a typical US dog's end-of-life care comes to about $670 with a home euthanasia and private cremation, against about $399 when the goodbye happens in the clinic [6]. The farewell on top can be as small as a candle or as large as a cemetery service, so decide where the goodbye happens first.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Colorado overview; for what's included in each option, see our services.
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 Colorado
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 Colorado.
Not sure which office covers Arvada? The Colorado local government directory is the official list.
For Colorado's rules on burying a pet at home or scattering ashes, see the Colorado guide. Local rules in Arvada can be stricter than the state's, especially in homeowners' associations and rentals.
From first call to farewell: the steps
- Take a breath. If your pet has died at home, lay them on their bed or a towel in a cool room. Nothing has to happen in the next hour.
- Decide cremation or burial first. Everything else, the timing of the goodbye included, follows from this single decision.
- Call the vet, crematory or pet cemetery to reserve a slot, and find out if they can hold your pet in cold storage in the meantime.
- Send one short message giving the place and time to the handful of people you want present.
- Choose a spot and one small ritual: a candle, a letter tucked under a paw, a favorite toy, a song.
- Hold the farewell, and afterwards either bury your pet or pass them over to whoever is collecting.
- Ask for the written total before collection, including any viewing or ceremony fee.
Keeping their memory alive in Arvada
Arvada has a strong neighborhood and family feel, and neighbors often know each other's pets. Some households invite a neighbor or two to say goodbye. A short farewell at home, with a favorite blanket or toy, gives everyone a chance to say goodbye. It's reasonable to ask for a collection time after school and work. Even ten quiet minutes can matter.
The services page is the place to compare what is included, use the free tools before you ring anyone, go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles, or see how other readers answered in our polls. More local pages: Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora and Fort Collins, the Colorado overview and every city in the United States.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
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Should young children be part of a pet's goodbye?
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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
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Arvada?
January, February, March, November and December: average lows are below freezing then, and frozen ground makes a home grave slow or impossible until it thaws. The other pressure point is July, when highs around 88°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Is cremation common in Colorado?
For people, yes: about 77.4%[5] of Colorado 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 Arvada follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Arvada?
Usually yes. Wheat Ridge is about 2 miles away, Westminster is about 4 miles away and Denver is about 7 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Is Arvada big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 45,000 Arvada households keep a dog or cat and around 3,750 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 122,901), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
What if there's no pet cemetery near Arvada?
That's common in smaller places. Families often choose a garden burial where rules allow, or cremation followed by burying the ashes, which needs only a small hole and can happen whenever suits. If you want a cemetery grave, look toward a larger centre such as Denver, and ask whether they'll hold a graveside service when you arrive.
Can I be there when my pet is cremated if I live in Arvada?
Possibly, but it may mean a drive. Smaller places often send pets to a crematory in a larger centre such as Denver, so ask your vet which one they use and call it directly. Some families take their pet there themselves, hold the farewell in the car park or a quiet room, and stay while the cremation begins.
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 Colorado's cremation rate at 77.4% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] A typical US dog end-of-life bill is about $670 with at-home euthanasia plus private cremation, versus about $399 with clinic euthanasia plus private cremation. Our estimate: 410 + 260 = 670; 139 + 260 = 399. How we calculate.
- [7] 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.
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