Free tools for planning your pet's print keepsake
Pick a print method in three clicks, budget the whole memorial, and work out how far your pet's ashes stretch once jewelry is involved. Ashes weigh roughly 3-5% of body weight[1], which surprises most people.
- No sign-up, nothing saved about you
- Results update as you change answers
- Every figure labelled with its source
Where to start
Which tool to open first
If you haven't taken a print yet, start with the method chooser: it's the only decision with a deadline. If a print is already safely on the shelf and you're thinking about pendants, engraving or sharing keepsakes with family, jump to the jewelry and sharing tools. The budget planner is useful at any point. If you'd rather someone else took the print, our services page covers vets, crematories and makers.
None of these tools needs your name or email. They run in your browser, and the numbers they show are either published figures, with sources, or clearly labelled typical ranges you can overwrite with real quotes.
Tool 1
Paw print keepsake chooser: which method suits your pet
Three questions: how big your pet is, how furry the paws are, and whether you want something to display, wear or frame. The chooser recommends a main method and a backup, from clay and ink to inkless kits, foam-and-plaster and full 3D casts, with tips for getting a clean result.
It's especially handy for the awkward cases: a giant breed whose paw won't fit a standard clay disc, a Persian with tufts between every toe, or a rabbit with no pads. Read the full walkthrough on the kit chooser page.
Free tool
Paw print keepsake chooser
Match a print method to your pet's size, fur and the keepsake you want to keep.
Tool 2
Memorial budget planner: the print alongside everything else
A print is rarely the only cost. The memorial budget planner lets you tick cremation, euthanasia, an urn, jewelry, a stone and a print, then replace our starting ranges with the quotes you actually receive. It adds everything up as a low-to-high range you can copy or print.
61%[2]
Tool 3
Jewelry ash capacity guide: prints you can wear
Many print pendants have a tiny chamber behind the engraving. This guide shows how much a pendant, ring, glass bead or keepsake urn holds, and how many of each your pet's ashes could fill. The answer is usually "far more than you'd need": a pendant takes about a pinch.
It works from your pet's weight using the common rule of about one cubic inch of ashes per pound. Here's what that rule gives for two typical pets:
12 cu in (cat); 70 cu in (dog)[3]
Open the jewelry ash capacity guide to try your own pet's weight.
Putting them together
A worked example: planning ahead for a 14-year-old cat
Say your cat is 14, weighs about 10 lb, has short fur and still enjoys a sunny windowsill. In the kit chooser you'd pick "small", "short" and, if you want something to hang, "art or a framed print". It suggests an ink print on card, with a clay disc as the alternative if you'd like something to hold. For a cat who grooms constantly, an inkless kit gives the same flat result with nothing wet on the fur.
You take two inkless prints on a quiet afternoon, scan the clearer one, and file it away. Months later, the budget planner helps you see the whole picture: cremation, a small urn, the print you already have, and perhaps an engraved pendant for your sister made from that scan.
Finally, the jewelry guide shows that a 10 lb cat leaves around ten cubic inches of ashes, and a pendant holds about a twentieth of one. Two pendants use a tenth of a cubic inch between them; add a three-cubic-inch keepsake urn for your son and the sharing planner shows roughly two-thirds still left for the main urn. Nothing had to be decided in a rush, and the one thing with a deadline, the print, was done first.
Honest limits
What these tools can't tell you
The tools can't see your pet. A calm Labrador and a frightened rescue with the same paw size might need different approaches, and only you or your vet can judge how much handling your pet will accept. They also can't give you local prices; those only come from quotes. Our local pages are the place to start for that.
Timing matters, too. US dogs have an average life expectancy of about 12.69 years[4] in a study of Banfield hospital records, and in Japan 50.9%[5] of pet cats are already seniors. If your pet is getting older, taking a print on a good day now is easier than waiting. When you're ready for real numbers, send us your details and we'll email local options.
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.
If you could keep one kind of print from your pet, which would it be?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How many copies of the print would your family want?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How much would you spend on a memorial item, beyond the cremation itself?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Free tools to help you plan
Paw print keepsake chooser
Match a print method to your pet's size, fur and the keepsake you want to keep.
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Jewelry ash capacity guide
How much ash fits in pendants, rings and glass, and how many pieces one pet can fill.
Ashes sharing planner
Split ashes fairly between family members, keepsake urns and jewelry.
Questions people ask
Are these tools free?
Yes, all four are free and need no account. They work in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to us unless you choose to fill in the contact form separately.
Where do the numbers in the tools come from?
Ash volumes use a published rule of thumb that cremated remains are about 3 to 5 percent of body weight, and roughly one cubic inch per pound. Cremation and euthanasia amounts in the budget planner come from named US cost studies. Other items use typical ranges that are labelled as such and meant to be overwritten.
Which tool should I use if my pet is still healthy?
Start with the paw print keepsake chooser. It recommends a method for your pet's size and fur, so you can buy the right kit and take a relaxed print on a good day, without any deadline hanging over you.
Can the tools tell me what a print will cost near me?
No. Print prices vary by provider and material, and very few publish them. The budget planner lets you enter real quotes, and we can email you local options if you send a request.
Do I need to use the tools in a particular order?
No, but if your pet is still with you, the kit chooser is the one to do first because a print can only be taken while they're here. The budget, jewelry and sharing tools can wait until you're ready, even months later, and work just as well from a scan of a print you took earlier.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight. Embrace Pet Insurance - Bury or Cremate Your Dog? Costs, Pros & Cons, 2025.
- [2] 61% of US owners in the Cooney survey rated the cost of after-death body care as a concern (27.9% concerned, 33.1% very concerned). 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.
- [3] Using the industry rule of thumb of 1 cubic inch of urn space per pound of body weight, a 12 lb cat needs an urn of about 12 cubic inches; a 70 lb dog needs about 70 cubic inches. Our estimate: urn cu in = body weight lb x 1 (industry rule of thumb, not a measured value). How we calculate.
- [4] 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.
- [5] 50.9% of pet cats in Japan are 7 years or older (seniors). Japan Pet Food Association, National Dog & Cat Ownership Survey 2024 (summary PDF), 2024.
Want real quotes to plug in?
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.