Saying goodbye to your pet in Westmont, your way
By our estimate, about 8,900 households in Westmont have a dog or a cat, and roughly 740 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 Westmont by email
Westmont, Illinois
What planning a pet funeral in Westmont is like
A Westmont farewell might be a single candle on the balcony railing, supper at a friend's house with photos passed around, or an afternoon hike at Waterfall Glen in the animal's honor. Some people hold a brief memorial after the ashes return, reading a few lines aloud. Kids can color a portrait of the pet or dictate a note to tuck into its memory box.
Westmont's many apartment households include young professionals, retirees and recent transplants, and a pet's death feels especially lonely when relatives are hours away. When there's warning, check whether euthanasia can be arranged at home, even in an apartment, so the animal stays somewhere calm. A private stretch of quiet before the driver buzzes up lets you say goodbye your own way.
Pet cemeteries are rarer in and around Westmont, so families who want a permanent grave often choose the garden instead, or bury the ashes after cremation. If you rent, or might move, burying ashes in a large planter or keeping them at home keeps the memorial portable while still giving you a graveside moment.
Westmont's population is around 24,155, the 94th-largest of the 151 Illinois communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Chicago, about 19 miles (30 km) away, which is where some providers serving Westmont are based.
If you want to compare providers, look at Hinsdale (2 miles), Downers Grove (2 miles, a larger centre) and Darien (3 miles). Distance matters because pickup fees and the time until the ashes come back both grow with the drive.
Our estimate
8,900
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Westmont
How we calculated this
24,155 ÷ 2.5 = 9,662 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 8,900. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
740
dog and cat deaths per year in Westmont, our estimate
How we calculated this
8,900 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 740 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.
Sources for the statistics above: American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Funeral traditions in Illinois and your pet
Some pet cemeteries also run a crematory, which suits Illinois, with cremation at roughly 60.2%[5] and burial still common. If there's one near you, you can see a grave site and ask about cremation in the same visit, then decide with both options in front of you rather than on the phone.
Source for the Illinois number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Westmont, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
Westmont weather and your pet's farewell
Snow and ice across January, February, March 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.
If you'd hoped to bury your pet in a Westmont 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.
Where the money goes in a Westmont pet funeral
Pet cemetery burial costs about three times a private cremation in the US, by our estimate (3.2x[6]), because a plot, opening the grave and long-term care are all involved. That's why many families in Westmont choose cremation followed by a small burial of the ashes, which keeps the graveside ceremony at a fraction of the price.
Prices for Westmont track the wider Illinois market, so use the Illinois price table as your baseline and the services page to see what is included.
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
A farewell itself needs no permission anywhere: you can gather, speak and say goodbye at home as you wish. The rules start when the body or the ashes go into the ground or the open air. Here's what applies in Illinois for burying at home and scattering ashes.
To find your county or city office in Illinois, start with the official Illinois local government directory.
The rules that apply across Illinois (home burial, scattering and who oversees pet cremation) are summarized on our Illinois page. Westmont may add its own conditions, so check with the city or county before digging.
Your checklist for the first day
- Take a breath. When a pet dies at home, settle them onto a towel or their own bed somewhere cool. There is no decision you need to make within the hour.
- Decide cremation or burial first. That one choice sets the clock for everything else, including when the farewell can happen.
- Call the vet, crematory or pet cemetery to hold a time, and ask whether they can keep your pet cool until then.
- 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 lit candle, a song, a note beneath a paw, or their best-loved toy beside them.
- Hold the farewell, then hand your pet to the collection team or lay them to rest.
- Ask for the written total before collection, including any viewing or ceremony fee.
After the farewell: ways to keep the memory close
The force of this grief catches many Westmont residents off balance, particularly those who live alone and spent every evening with the pet curled on the couch. DuPage clinics sometimes post flyers for grief circles, and a national pet-bereavement line can be reached from your kitchen. Telling a coworker or the neighbor across the hall what happened often eases the strange silence in the unit.
browse in-depth guides or recent articles, or see how other readers answered in our polls, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, Compare every option on our services page. More local pages: Elgin, Rockford, Aurora and Naperville, the Illinois overview and every city in the United States.
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.
Who would you want at your pet's farewell?
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Should young children be part of a pet's goodbye?
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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
Does the Westmont climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 85°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, March and December, when lows sit below freezing, a home burial may have to wait for a thaw, so cremation with ashes returned keeps your options open.
How do Illinois attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the Illinois human cremation rate at about 60.2%[5]. We show it on the Westmont 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.
Where are the providers that serve Westmont actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Chicago, about 19 miles away. That is normal for a town this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Westmont and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Is Westmont big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 8,900 Westmont households keep a dog or cat and around 740 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 24,155), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Can we hold a graveside service in Westmont when the ground is frozen?
Some pet cemeteries can open a grave in frozen ground with the right equipment; others hold a service now and bury later, once it thaws. For a garden burial, many families cremate in winter and bury the ashes in spring with a small ceremony. Ask any cemetery what they do in winter before choosing a date.
Can I hold a funeral for my pet at home in Westmont?
Yes, and it's the most common kind of pet funeral. Choose a quiet room or a corner of the garden, lay your pet on their bed, invite the few people who should be there and plan one small ritual. Then ask the vet or crematory to collect afterwards, or go ahead with a home burial if Illinois rules allow it.
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] 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.
- [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.
Plan your pet's farewell with us
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