A proper farewell for your pet in Fort Collins
Around 5,250 Fort Collins families lose a dog or cat each year, by our estimate. Some hold a garden farewell, some book a viewing room, some choose a cemetery plot. Here's what each involves locally.
- Small, personal goodbyes that fit your family
- Questions to ask any provider or cemetery
- No pressure, no packages you don't need
Fort Collins, Colorado
Where a goodbye can happen in Fort Collins
Fort Collins has a large student population, and many students lose a pet while living far from family. Being far from home makes it harder. Friends who knew your pet, student counseling services and online pet loss groups can all help you through it. A small farewell with roommates, sharing a story and a photo, can help more than you might expect.
Pet loss support is available across northern Colorado and online, including support groups, counselors and phone lines, and the city's strong veterinary community means many clinics can point you to local help. If grief feels heavier than you expected, especially in the short winter days, speaking to someone is a sensible step. Missing your pet this much is normal. A quiet visit to Old Town can help too.
If Fort Collins has no pet cemetery of its own, a larger centre such as Denver may have one with a chapel or garden where short services are held. These are often booked by the hour, so ask how long you'll have, whether your own music is welcome, and whether staff or family lower the casket.
With roughly 171,500 residents, Fort Collins is the 4th-largest of the 36 Colorado communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Fort Collins are based about 58 miles away in Denver, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
Our pages for Windsor (12 miles), Loveland (13 miles) and Greeley (20 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Fort Collins as well.
Our estimate
63,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Fort Collins
How we calculated this
171,500 ÷ 2.5 = 68,600 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 63,000. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
5,250
Fort Collins families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
63,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 5,250 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.
The numbers above come from Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, if you'd like to read the original sources.
Faith, tradition and pet goodbyes in Colorado
Scattering is common where cremation is the norm, and with about 77.4%[5] of people in Colorado cremated, some families want a pet's ashes to end up beside a person's. Rules on mixing remains in human cemeteries vary a lot, so ask first. The reverse happens too: about 800 people's ashes rest alongside their pets at one historic US pet cemetery [6].
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 Fort Collins rather than as pet data.
Planning an outdoor goodbye in Fort Collins's climate
If you'd hoped to bury your pet in a Fort Collins garden in winter, ask a pet cemetery whether they can open a grave in frozen ground. Some can with the right equipment, some hold pets until the thaw, and some offer a winter service with the burial done later. Ask what happens and when before you choose.
Fort Collins winters are cold, with average lows at or below freezing in January, February, March, November and December. Frozen ground can make a garden burial impossible for weeks, which is one reason many local families choose cremation in winter and hold a graveside ceremony for the ashes in spring. It gives the farewell a second moment everyone can plan for.
Pet funeral and burial prices for families in Fort Collins
Pet cemetery burial costs about three times a private cremation in the US, by our estimate (3.2x[7]), because a plot, opening the grave and long-term care are all involved. That's why many families in Fort Collins choose cremation followed by a small burial of the ashes, which keeps the graveside ceremony at a fraction of the price.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Colorado: Colorado 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.
Burial, scattering and gathering rules in Colorado
Pet cemeteries, parks and private gardens all have different rules. A cemetery handles the permissions for you; a garden burial or a scattering in public is your responsibility. If you rent, ask the landlord before digging. Here's what to know in Colorado.
Not sure which office covers Fort Collins? The Colorado local government directory is the official list.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Colorado level first; our Colorado rules summary has the detail. Then check whether Fort Collins or your HOA adds anything.
Your checklist for the first day
- Ask the clinic for a quiet room and some time, whether or not everything happened quickly. There's no rule that says you must walk out right after.
- Don't sign the aftercare form on the spot if you're unsure. The practice can hold your pet in cold storage for a day; ask for that and take the time to decide.
- Find out which crematory the practice uses, then ask if you're free to pick another provider, or to bring your pet home and bury them yourself.
- Request a paw print or a clipping of fur before your pet leaves the room; it's much harder to arrange later.
- If family couldn't get there in time, ask if the clinic will let them come in for their own goodbye before the pickup.
- Get the aftercare price on its own line, separate from the medical bill, so you can see what the farewell part costs.
- Pencil in a gathering for later, for when the ashes are back or at the graveside, for the people who missed the day.
Marking the loss, now and later
A pet farewell in Fort Collins can be as simple as a gathering in the backyard on a summer evening, a hike to a favorite overlook, or a quiet moment by the river. Some families wait until spring to plant a tree or flowers. Choosing a date after the ashes return gives friends and family from Denver or elsewhere on the Front Range time to join.
Every option Fort Collins families choose between is on the services page, browse in-depth guides or recent articles, run the numbers with the free planning tools, or see how other readers answered in our polls. If you live between Fort Collins and Colorado Springs, Denver, Thornton and Arvada, either page applies. Every other community in Colorado, 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.
Should young children be part of a pet's goodbye?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What kind of goodbye feels right for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
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 do Colorado attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the Colorado human cremation rate at about 77.4%[5]. We show it on the Fort Collins 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.
How many pet owners live in Fort Collins?
By our estimate, about 63,000 households in Fort Collins have at least one dog or cat, and around 5,250 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 171,500, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Will I have to travel to Denver to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Denver (roughly 58 miles from Fort Collins) 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.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Fort Collins?
The closest communities we cover are Windsor (about 12 miles), Loveland (about 13 miles) and Greeley (about 20 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Fort Collins too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Is a pet funeral common in Colorado?
Small farewells are common almost everywhere, even if people don't call them funerals. For people, about 77.4%[5] of deaths in Colorado end in cremation, and that shapes pet habits too: where cremation is usual, pet farewells often centre on the ashes; where burial is usual, a graveside moment in the garden feels more natural.
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.
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] The cremated remains of about 800 people are buried alongside their pets at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery. VOA News – America's oldest pet cemetery, 2024.
- [7] US pet cemetery burial for a dog costs about 3.2x a private cremation ($831 vs $260 national averages). Our estimate: 831 / 260 = 3.20. How we calculate.
- [8] Across five posted US pet-cemetery price lists, the median whole-body burial for a small pet, including plot and opening/closing, was about $350. Our estimate: median of [Rainier $150 plot incl. first burial, Cedar Bend $290, Forest $350, Great River $750, Precious Memories $1,500]. How we calculate.
Plan your pet's farewell with us
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.