Planning a goodbye for your pet in Reno
By our estimate, about 105,000 households in Reno have a dog or a cat, and roughly 8,700 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
Reno, Nevada
Choosing where the farewell happens in Reno
Losing a pet can hit hard, whether your pet was a constant presence at home or part of every trip into the mountains. Grieving an animal is normal, and it can go on for months. Time along the Truckee River or up in the foothills, and people who knew your pet to talk with, can help. Online pet loss groups are available at any hour.
A farewell for a pet in Reno might be a private goodbye in the house, then friends meeting on a riverbank or in the backyard with the Sierra in view. You may also be able to attend the cremation. Tell us which parts matter to you when you get in touch, and we'll email options from providers who can include them.
In a city like Reno, most farewells start at home or at the family vet. Some local crematories have a viewing room, others don't, and the ones that do may be based on the edge of town or near Reno. If unhurried time with your pet matters, ask the vet which crematory they use and whether a visit there is possible before you agree.
Reno is home to about 283,621 people, the 4th-largest of the 11 Nevada communities we cover.
Families in Reno often end up using a provider from Sparks (6 miles), Incline Village (21 miles) and Carson City (26 miles). That is normal: crematories serve a radius, not a single town, and the drive is priced into collection.
Our estimate
105,000
How many dog- or cat-owning households Reno has (estimate)
How we calculated this
283,621 ÷ 2.5 = 113,448 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 105,000. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
8,700
dog and cat deaths per year in Reno, our estimate
How we calculated this
105,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 8,700 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.
What local burial and cremation customs suggest
Human crematoria in Nevada, where roughly 80.7%[5] of deaths end in cremation, tend to have gardens of remembrance with benches and small plaques. Some pet crematories copy the idea with a memorial wall or garden where families can scatter ashes or add a name. Ask whether there's one and what a plaque costs; it gives the family somewhere to go on the anniversary.
The Nevada figure comes from Direct Cremate (citing CANA) (2024). It describes people, not pets, so read it as a sign of local attitudes rather than a pet statistic.
When the weather shapes the goodbye
Pet cemeteries around places like Reno often have seasonal rhythms: fewer burials when the ground is frozen, more in spring. Ask whether a winter burial is possible, whether they'll hold a service and bury later, and whether summer weekends book up. Knowing this early helps you pick a date the whole family can make.
Reno has both extremes: highs around 94°F in July and freezing lows in January, February, November and December. In summer, hold a home farewell within hours and keep your pet cool. In winter, you have more time but frozen ground, so many families choose cremation and bury the ashes in a spring or autumn ceremony.
What a pet funeral costs in Reno
Ask every provider in Reno to split the quote in two: body care (collection, cremation or burial, the container) and the farewell (viewing time, witnessed cremation, a graveside service). Seeing the two numbers apart makes it easy to drop what you don't need. The national figures below show what's typical.
The full price table by product is on our Nevada page, and the services page explains what each option includes.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Permissions to check in Nevada before the ceremony
Most of what happens at a pet funeral is up to you. The exceptions are home burial, which Nevada and your city or county may regulate, and scattering ashes in parks or on land you don't own, which usually needs the owner's permission. The key points are below.
Washoe County Regional Animal Services publishes Reno's official guidance. Note that it deals with public collection, not with booking a private cremation. Nevada keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers Reno.
Start with the Nevada rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Reno's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
What to do first, and what can wait
- If the goodbye is planned, ask whether your vet does house calls and reserve one as soon as you can; home-visit vets around Reno 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: your pet's bed, a blanket, soft light, phones away.
- Give each person, including children, one small job, such as choosing a flower or reading a line.
- Say a few words. One memory per person is enough, and laughing is fine.
- Plan a second gathering for when the ashes come home, if more people want to be there.
Remembering your pet in Reno
If a child is grieving, honest, simple words help more than euphemisms, and a small role in the farewell, like choosing a photo, helps them take part. Reno has a veterinary and university community, and support for pet loss is within reach. If you or someone in the family is still struggling after several weeks, reaching out to a counselor is a sensible step.
or compare your instinct with the poll results, The services page is the place to compare what is included, read our guides and latest articles, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures. More local pages: Sparks, Las Vegas, Henderson and Carson City, the Nevada 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.
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?
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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
How many pet owners live in Reno?
By our estimate, about 105,000 households in Reno have at least one dog or cat, and around 8,700 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 283,621, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Does the Reno climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 94°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, November 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.
Why does the Reno page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. Direct Cremate (citing CANA) (2024) reports about 80.7%[5] of Nevada residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Reno?
Usually yes. Sparks is about 6 miles away, Incline Village is about 21 miles away and Carson City is about 26 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
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.
Can I bring my pet home from the vet for a funeral in Reno?
Usually, yes. Ask the clinic to wrap your pet in a blanket or place them in a sturdy box, and bring a towel for the car. You may be asked to sign a release form. Once home, keep your pet cool and hold the farewell within a day, then bury them where local rules allow or call a crematory to collect. The vet can still arrange cremation later if you change your mind.
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] Nevada had a 80.7% cremation rate in 2024, among the highest in the US. Direct Cremate (citing CANA), 2024.
- [6] 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.
Tell us about the goodbye you're planning
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.