A small, independent guide to paw print keepsakes
We write plain-English help on taking, preserving and finishing pet prints, and we help owners find local vets, crematories and makers who offer them. We don't make prints or run any facility ourselves.
- Independent: no maker or clinic owns us
- Every figure linked to its source
- Free to ask, with replies by email
Why this site exists
Why a whole site about one small keepsake
A paw print is the one memorial with a deadline. You can choose an urn next month or a pendant next year, but the print has to be taken while your pet is still here or still in someone's care. We kept meeting owners who found that out a day too late, and who wished someone had simply told them to ask.
Most people in that situation lean on their vet. In one US survey, 48.8%[1] of owners named their veterinary team as their main source of advice on pet death and dying. Vets are busy, though, and print options are easy to miss in the middle of a hard appointment. This site fills that gap with practical, species-specific detail you can read ahead of time.
We cover more than dog paws: cats' small, retractable-clawed feet, rabbits' pad-less furry soles, birds' feet, horses' hooves and the nose prints that have become so popular for engraving. Our services overview explains every route to a print.
What we do, and don't
What we do, and what we don't do
- We do publish guides, tools and polls about print keepsakes, free to read.
- We do help you find local vets, crematories and keepsake makers who take or finish prints, and reply by email with options.
- We don't make prints, sell kits from a warehouse, employ artists, or operate any clinic, crematory or studio.
- We don't publish star ratings, testimonials or kit prices we haven't verified.
- We don't sell your details to advertisers.
That independence shapes what we write. Because no maker pays for placement in our guides, we can say plainly when a cheap clay disc will do the job, or when a big dog needs a cast instead.
The request service
How a request to us works, step by step
- You tell us your pet's species and size, your town or ZIP code, and what you'd like to keep: a paw, nose or hoof print, a cast, or something made from a print.
- We look for providers who serve your area and who offer that kind of print.
- We reply by email with the options we found and the questions worth asking each one.
- You contact whoever you choose, or none of them. There's no obligation and nothing to cancel.
Shopping around is rare in this area. In the UK, the competition regulator found 89%[2] of owners who bought a pet cremation did not compare providers at all. A couple of emailed options makes it easier to ask about prints, labelling and price before you commit. Start on our contact page whenever you're ready. If you'd like to look around first, our local pages cover how print options differ by state and city.
How we research
How we research and check what we publish
Our practical advice comes from how print methods actually behave: how clay dries and cracks, why inkless paper suits fluffy paws, why aerosol sealers and birds don't mix. Our numbers come from published research, regulators and industry reports, each linked to its source. You can see the full list on our research page.
Sometimes we combine published figures into our own calculation. Those are always labelled "our estimate" with the method shown. For example, by our estimate the number of US families likely open to a personalized pet keepsake each year is:
~765,000 families/yr[3]
The wider market is large. One industry report valued the global pet memorials market at USD 2.85 billion[4] in 2024. We mention figures like that for context only; they don't tell you what a print near you will cost, which is why we point you to local quotes.
Editorial standards
The rules we write by
We don't invent customer stories, reviews or awards. We don't say a method is right for every pet, because it isn't. We don't state prices as fact unless a named source published them, and we don't promise response times we can't keep.
Grief is part of why prints matter. In the RSPCA's pet-loss survey, only 13.4%[5] of bereaved owners felt fully understood by others. We try to write the way a thoughtful friend would talk: honest about what a print can and can't do, and never suggesting a keepsake will fix grief. Our piece on choosing a print without promising relief explains that thinking. When grief is heavier than a keepsake can help with, we point readers to free lines such as Cornell's pet loss support hotline.
Our polls are anonymous and live, not scientific surveys. You can see what other readers chose on the poll results page, and our print method chooser is free to use without giving any details.
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 rather take the print?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Which memorial feels most like your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Who made (or will make) the aftercare decision in your household?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Questions people ask
Do you make paw print keepsakes yourselves?
No. We're an independent guide and request service. We explain the options and help you find local vets, crematories and keepsake makers who take or finish prints. The provider you choose does the work and quotes you directly.
Is it free to ask you for options?
Yes. Sending a request costs nothing and doesn't commit you to anything. We reply by email with options for your area, and you decide whether to contact any of them.
How do you choose which providers to suggest?
We look for providers that serve your area and offer the kind of print you asked about, whether that's a clay print at the clinic, a crematory print before cremation or a maker who works from a scan. We don't rank providers with stars and we encourage you to ask each one the same questions.
Where do your statistics come from?
From published research, regulators and industry reports, each linked to its source on our research page. Where we combine figures into our own calculation, we label it as our estimate and show the method. We don't publish unsourced prices.
Why don't you list kit prices?
Because kit and print prices vary widely by maker, material and country, and we haven't been able to verify a reliable range. Rather than guess, we point you to written quotes from providers near you, and our budget planner lets you enter those real figures.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 48.8% of US pet owners named their veterinary team as their primary resource for recommendations on pet death and dying. Cooney, Kogan, Brooks, Ellis - Pet Owners' Expectations for Pet End-of-Life Support and After-Death Body Care, Topics in Companion Animal Medicine (2020), 2020.
- [2] 89% of UK owners who bought a pet cremation did not compare different providers; 9% did. UK Competition and Markets Authority - Veterinary services for household pets, Provisional decision report Part A (Oct 2025), 2025.
- [3] Around 765,000 U.S. families a year are likely open to a personalized pet keepsake. Our estimate: 1.5M pet cremations x 51% interest in personalized memorials. How we calculate.
- [4] The global pet memorials market was valued at USD 2.85 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 4.7 billion by 2033 (5.3% CAGR). DataHorizzon Research — Pet Memorials Market report page, 2024.
- [5] Only 13.4% of bereaved pet owners felt fully understood by others. RSPCA — Pet Loss Survey Results, 2026.
Ask us who offers prints near you
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.