Planning a goodbye for your pet in Joliet
By our estimate, about 56,000 households in Joliet have a dog or a cat, and roughly 4,650 of those pets die each year. Every one of those families decides how to say goodbye. Here's how to plan yours.
- Small, personal goodbyes that fit your family
- Questions to ask any provider or cemetery
- No pressure, no packages you don't need
Joliet, Illinois
Pet farewells in Joliet: the local picture
Children often feel a pet's death deeply and cope better when they're included honestly. Let them help plan a goodbye, choose a spot in the yard, draw a picture or pick a keepsake. Older relatives who lose a daily companion may need extra support too. Small rituals, like lighting a candle on the anniversary, give everyone a way to remember together.
Joliet is a place where people often know their neighbors and extended family lives nearby. A small farewell at home or in the backyard, with family and friends who knew your pet, can help everyone mark the loss. Some families hold it before cremation, others after the ashes come home. There's no right way; do what feels true to your household.
A mid-size place like Joliet usually has one or two crematories and a handful of in-home vets, so availability can tighten on weekends and holidays. If your pet is very ill, it's kinder to yourself to ask now what a home goodbye would involve, who would collect afterwards and whether a viewing is possible, so the day itself holds fewer decisions.
With roughly 152,241 residents, Joliet is the 4th-largest of the 151 Illinois communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Joliet are based about 34 miles away in Chicago, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
For a second opinion on price, Crest Hill (4 miles), Lockport (5 miles) and New Lenox (6 miles) are close enough that their providers cover Joliet routinely. Two written quotes tell you more than any price list.
Our estimate
56,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Joliet
How we calculated this
152,241 ÷ 2.5 = 60,896 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 56,000. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
4,650
Estimated dog and cat losses in Joliet each year
How we calculated this
56,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 4,650 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.
To check the figures yourself, see Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
Local customs and your pet's farewell
In a place where roughly 60.2%[5] of people are cremated, families follow a mix of faiths, some of which prefer burial for people. Many traditions say little about animals' remains, so a pet's farewell is usually a family choice. If it matters to you, a quick word with your faith leader before the vet visit saves second thoughts later.
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) is where the Illinois figure comes from. It counts people; we use it because attitudes to cremating a pet in Joliet tend to follow attitudes to cremation generally.
Joliet weather and your pet's farewell
Cold weather gives you a little more time before a home farewell has to end, but it also makes outdoor goodbyes harder. With January lows near 16°F in Joliet, keep any outdoor part short, with hats, gloves and a warm room to go back to. The words can be said indoors by the window facing the garden.
Joliet 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.
The real cost of a pet goodbye in Joliet
The ceremony itself is rarely the expensive part of a pet funeral in Joliet. 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 Illinois: Illinois 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.
Permissions to check in Illinois before the ceremony
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 Illinois; for the exact spot, check with whoever manages that land or water.
Not sure which office covers Joliet? The Illinois local government directory is the official list.
We keep Illinois's burial and scattering rules in one place: the Illinois rules summary. Before a home burial in Joliet, also ask the city whether local ordinances add anything.
Your checklist for the first day
- If the goodbye is planned, ask whether your vet does house calls and reserve one as soon as you can; home-visit vets around Joliet often have no free slots for several days.
- Tell the vet what you'd like around it: time before, time after, and collection only once the family is ready.
- Prepare the room: dim lights, phones out of sight, a blanket, the bed they know.
- Give each person, including children, one small job, whether that's picking a flower or reading a single sentence aloud.
- Say a few words. One memory per person is enough, and laughing is fine.
- Plan a second gathering around the ashes' return, so anyone who missed the first can still take part.
Remembering your pet in Joliet
The long gray stretch of a Northern Illinois winter can make grief feel heavier, especially in the months after a loss. Keep simple routines, get outside on bright days and talk about your pet with people who understand. If sadness doesn't ease, or it starts to affect sleep or work, reaching out to a counselor, your doctor or a pet loss support line is a reasonable step.
run the numbers with the free planning tools, the guides answer the longer questions and the blog the newer ones, or compare your instinct with the poll results, See what each option includes on our services page. More local pages: Elgin, Springfield, Naperville and Chicago, the Illinois overview and every city in the United States.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
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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
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Joliet?
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 84°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Is Joliet big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 56,000 Joliet households keep a dog or cat and around 4,650 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 152,241), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Where are the providers that serve Joliet actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Chicago, about 34 miles away. That is normal for a city this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Joliet and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Joliet?
Usually yes. Crest Hill is about 4 miles away, Lockport is about 5 miles away and New Lenox is about 6 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Should my other pets see the body before the farewell?
Many owners let them, and it rarely does harm. Give your other dog or cat a few calm minutes to sniff and walk away in their own time. Some show little interest; others seem to search the house less afterwards. There's no evidence it's required, so if it feels wrong for your household, skip it. Keep routines steady for the animals left behind in the days that follow.
Do pet funeral homes exist near Joliet?
Some pet crematories have a farewell or viewing room, some pet cemeteries host graveside services, and a few human funeral homes offer pet services. In a city the size of Joliet you may find several of these. Tell us what you'd like and where your pet is now, and we'll email options that serve your area.
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 Illinois's cremation rate at 60.2% 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] 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.
Get Joliet funeral and burial options by email
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