Getting your pet's paw print in Austin
By our estimate, about 370,000 households in Austin share their home with a dog or cat. Every one of those paws can be pressed into clay or ink, ideally long before goodbye. Here's how.
- Take the print before cremation
- Clay, ink or cast, explained simply
- Published prices, no guesswork
Austin, Texas
Getting a paw print in Austin: the local picture
If you are thinking of scattering ashes, many Austin owners think of Lady Bird Lake, the Barton Creek Greenbelt or a ranch west of town. Public parks and waterways are shared spaces, so choose a quiet early morning, and ask the landowner first on private property. Keeping a small portion back in a keepsake, a pendant or a small urn before any scattering means you will not regret it later.
Austin households choose all kinds of memorials: a ceramic urn from a local potter, a pendant holding a trace of ashes, a limestone marker for the garden, or a framed paw or nose print taken before collection. Many people pick something that reflects the city's handmade, creative streak rather than a catalog piece. Whatever you choose, ask for prints or fur clippings at the first call, since these must be taken before your pet leaves home.
Collection can be fast in a busy city like Austin, sometimes within an hour or two, and that shortens the window for taking a print yourself. If you want to do it with your own hands, do it before you make the call, or ask the collection team to give you ten minutes. They are used to the request and will wait. Keep the clay, a damp cloth and a towel ready on a table beforehand.
Austin is home to about 1,002,632 people, the 5th-largest of the 325 Texas communities we cover.
Nearby, we also have local pages for Manor (13 miles), Buda (14 miles) and Pflugerville (14 miles), which can help if your vet or the provider you prefer is based there.
Our estimate
370,000
How many dog- or cat-owning households Austin has (estimate)
How we calculated this
1,002,632 ÷ 2.5 = 401,053 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 370,000. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
30,500
Austin families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
370,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 30,500 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 American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
What local funeral habits mean for a print
On cremation, Texas sits in the middle, at about 55.7%[5] of human deaths, and for many families the choice is shaped by faith as much as by cost. If your beliefs lean toward burial, or you're simply unsure how you feel about cremating a pet, a paw print sits comfortably with either path. It involves nothing more than a gentle press into clay or onto card, and it leaves your pet exactly as they were.
That Texas rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Austin only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
Clay, ink and the local climate
If your pet dies at home during May, June, July, August and September, keeping them cool comes first and the print second. Move them to the coolest room, lay them on a towel over a hard floor and take the print within the first few hours, before the body stiffens. If collection is coming soon, ask the team to wait while you finish, or ask the crematory to take the print at intake.
Summers in Austin are hot: August averages highs around 98°F. Heat is hard on air-dry clay. In dry heat the surface skins over and cracks before the inside has set, so dry your print slowly indoors, away from sunny windows and air vents, and turn it every few hours. In humid heat the opposite happens: the clay stays soft for days, so be patient and don't try to speed it up in the oven unless the kit says it's bakeable.
Paw print prices: kits, add-ons and finishing
Some providers include the print in the package. A Virginia crematory, for example, includes a paw print and a fur clipping with every private cremation package, which run $189–$300[6]. Others charge separately: a Northeast crematory network lists $49 for ink paw prints, $76 for a clay or silver-clay print and $111 framed[7]. When you compare quotes in Austin, check which approach each provider takes.
The Texas price table breaks costs down by product; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Rules in Texas that touch on keepsakes
Rules in Texas mostly cover the practical side of a pet's death: where a body can be buried, how deep, and where ashes may be scattered. None of it stops you taking a print. It's worth knowing, though, because a print set into a stone often goes where the burial or ashes go, and a landlord or homeowners' association can have its own say.
For what Austin itself says, see Austin Resource Recovery. Its pages cover municipal collection; a private cremation is arranged separately. The official Texas local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Austin.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Texas level first; our Texas rules summary has the detail. Then check whether Austin or your HOA adds anything.
How to make sure a print is taken in time
- If your pet dies unexpectedly at the clinic, ask for a few minutes alone with them before you go. Staff will almost always allow this, and many can fetch a print kit for you there and then.
- Say exactly what you want: ink, clay, a nose print, or every one of them, plus the number of copies.
- If you can't face doing it yourself, a nurse or technician can make the print while you step out of the room; ask them to show you the result before you head home.
- Get the crematory's name and your pet's reference number on paper from reception before you leave.
- If no print was taken, call the crematory first thing the next morning and ask for one at intake.
- Leave the urn and the other extras for later. The print is the only decision that can't wait.
Keeping the print and the memory close
Central Texas limestone is part of the landscape here, and some families like a memorial stone cut from it, set among native plants that survive the summer without much water. A tree or bio urn planted with a native species, such as a Texas redbud or a cedar elm, is another choice that suits the Hill Country. Plant in autumn or winter, when young trees have the strongest chance before the heat returns.
the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, read our guides and latest articles, or see what other families chose in the poll results, See what each option includes on our services page. If you live between Austin and Fort Worth, Houston, Dallas and Arlington, either page applies. Every other community in Texas, 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.
Where would your pet's print live?
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When did (or will) you take your pet's print?
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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.
Paw print keepsake chooser
Match a print method to your pet's size, fur and the keepsake you want to keep.
Jewelry ash capacity guide
How much ash fits in pendants, rings and glass, and how many pieces one pet can fill.
Questions people ask
Is Austin big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 370,000 Austin households keep a dog or cat and around 30,500 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 1,002,632), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Why does the Austin page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) reports about 55.7%[5] of Texas residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Does the Austin climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In August, with highs near 98°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. Winters here are mild enough that burial or scattering is possible in any month.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Austin?
Usually yes. Manor is about 13 miles away, Buda is about 14 miles away and Pflugerville is about 14 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
My pet died at night in Austin. Is it too late for a print?
No. If your pet is at home, keep them cool on a towel and take the print yourself when you feel ready, within the first few hours if you can. If your pet is at an emergency hospital, ask the staff to take one, or tell the crematory in the morning that you want a print before cremation. You don't have to decide anything else that night.
Is it possible to print a guinea pig's or hamster's feet?
Yes, but it takes patience and a light touch. Tiny feet leave only faint marks in ink, so very soft modeling clay or an inkless kit usually works better. Warm the clay well, cradle your pet in a towel on your lap and press the clay gently up to the foot rather than lowering the foot. For a hamster, one clear hind foot is plenty. If your pet is frightened, stop; letting your vet take it after death is gentler.
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 Texas's cremation rate at 55.7% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Heavenly Paws Cremations in Chantilly, Virginia, sells private cremation packages at $189 (temporary container), $225 (wooden urn) and $300 (wooden photo urn), each including a paw print and fur clipping. Heavenly Paws Cremations – Packages, 2026.
- [7] Final Gift charges $49 for ink paw prints, $76 for a clay or silver-clay paw print, $111 framed, and $133 framed with a fur clipping; a fur clipping alone costs $23. Final Gift Pet Memorial Center – Memorial Products, 2026.
- [8] Paw-print add-ons at US crematories have a median price of about $32, from $10 to $76. Our estimate: median of [$10 clay (AGP), $15 laser engraving (AGP), $49 ink (Final Gift), $76 clay (Final Gift)]. How we calculate.
Tell us about your pet's print
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.