Growing something from the goodbye in New Orleans
Roughly 11,000 New Orleans families say goodbye to a dog or cat each year, by our count. A living memorial is one way to mark it. This guide explains how to make one that actually grows.
- Trees matched to New Orleans's climate
- Soil-safe planting method for ashes
- Real prices for bio urns and aquamation
New Orleans, Louisiana
Where a living memorial fits in New Orleans
Louisiana has one of the lower cremation rates in the country, and burial runs deep in New Orleans culture. On All Saints' Day, 1 November, many families still visit and clean family tombs. Some families now include a pet in that day, with flowers, a candle or a visit to a favorite spot. A physical memorial gives those moments a focus.
The Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, City Park with its old live oaks, and Audubon Park are places many New Orleans families connect with their pets. Look up what City Park, the levee or the lakefront allow before scattering. For a garden memorial, humid heat, torrential rain and storms rot painted wood fast, while granite and glazed tile shrug off the weather.
If other pets still share your home in New Orleans, choose the memorial plant with them in mind. Lilies are dangerous to cats, and sago palms, oleander and yew are toxic to dogs and many other animals. A vet or the nursery can confirm which plants are safe. It would be a sad twist for the memorial to harm the animals who are still with you.
New Orleans is home to about 362,154 people, the largest of the 17 Louisiana communities we cover.
Our pages for Kenner (12 miles), Slidell (29 miles) and St. George (64 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers New Orleans as well.
Our estimate
135,000
How many dog- or cat-owning households New Orleans has (estimate)
How we calculated this
362,154 ÷ 2.5 = 144,862 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 135,000. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
11,000
dog and cat deaths per year in New Orleans, our estimate
How we calculated this
135,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 11,000 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.
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.
Cremation habits in Louisiana, and what they mean for a bio urn
Cremation is less common for people in Louisiana, where about 46.4%[5] are cremated. For pet owners, that sometimes means fewer local crematories and almost no water cremation nearby, so ashes may come back from a regional provider. It doesn't limit what you do afterwards. A planting urn, a garden bed or a lake release all work the same way, and none of them needs a local specialist.
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) is where the Louisiana figure comes from. It counts people; we use it because attitudes to cremating a pet in New Orleans tend to follow attitudes to cremation generally.
New Orleans seasons and your memorial tree
Summer water can be busy or unsafe in hot places. Around New Orleans, shorelines are crowded in August, and some lakes close for algae blooms in the heat. For a lake or river goodbye, pick a cooler month or go at first light, check for any water-quality notices, and choose a spot where you can reach the water easily without slipping.
New Orleans summers are hard on young trees: August averages highs around 90°F. Don't plant a memorial tree in the hottest months. Aim for the cooler part of the year, when roots can grow before the next summer arrives. Ashes don't need to go into the ground quickly, so keeping them safely at home for a few months is completely fine.
Budgeting for a living memorial in New Orleans
A living memorial in New Orleans has two costs: the cremation and the urn. Biodegradable pet urns are among the cheaper urns you can buy, listed at about $15–$80[6] in one national price guide, and a sapling from a local nursery often costs less than a decorative display urn. If you'd like water cremation, one pet insurer's guide lists aquamation at $80 to $450 depending on size[7]. The table shows published examples.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Louisiana overview; for what's included in each option, see our services.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Who to ask before you plant or scatter in Louisiana
Rules change more often than most people realise, and many local policies about ashes were never written down at all. Treat any general guide for Louisiana, including ours, as a starting point. Whoever looks after that particular field, park or shoreline is the one whose answer counts, so it's worth getting it by email where you can.
Louisiana keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers New Orleans.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Louisiana level first; our Louisiana rules summary has the detail. Then check whether New Orleans or your HOA adds anything.
Your next steps, whatever your situation
- If your pet dies while you're away from New Orleans, have a vet close to where you are set up individual cremation locally. Transporting a body a long way home almost never works out.
- Ask how the ashes can reach you: collected in person, posted by a tracked courier service, or sent to your own vet.
- Flying home with the ashes? Keep them in your carry-on, inside a container security can scan, and pack the crematory's paperwork alongside them.
- Don't buy the bio urn on the road. Wait until you're home and know the spot, so the urn matches the place.
- Plant somewhere that links both places if the idea appeals: perhaps a species native to the area your pet died in, or one already growing at home, provided it can cope with the climate in New Orleans.
- Write down the date and place where your pet died and where it was cremated. Those details fade faster than you'd expect.
Ways to mark the spot and the date
New Orleans is famous for its above-ground tombs, the cities of the dead, built partly because of the high water table. That tradition of visible, lasting memorials carries over to pets, and many families want something to visit or display. An urn on a home altar with candles and photos, a cypress box, or a pendant can all carry that tradition on.
there are guides for the big decisions and articles for the details, Compare every option on our services page, or look at how readers voted in our polls, use the free tools before you ring anyone. If you live between New Orleans and St. George, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Lake Charles, either page applies. Every other community in Louisiana, 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.
Would you consider releasing your pet's ashes in water?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What kind of tree or plant would you choose?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Memorial tree finder
Pick a tree for a planting urn that suits your climate, space and pet.
Aftercare options compared
Compare private, communal and water cremation with burial on cost, timing and what comes home.
Questions people ask
Why does the New Orleans 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 46.4%[5] of Louisiana residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in New Orleans?
There is no frozen-ground season here; average lows stay above freezing all year. The other pressure point is August, when highs around 90°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from New Orleans?
Usually yes. Kenner is about 12 miles away, Slidell is about 29 miles away and St. George is about 64 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
How many pet owners live in New Orleans?
By our estimate, about 135,000 households in New Orleans have at least one dog or cat, and around 11,000 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 362,154, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Where can I buy a native tree for a pet memorial in New Orleans?
A local nursery or garden center is the best place, because staff know what survives local heat, cold and soil. Some county extension offices and native plant societies run plant sales too. Ask for a two-year-old sapling of a species that tolerates slightly alkaline soil, and ask how much water it needs in its first summer.
How much does pet aquamation cost?
One US pet insurer's guide lists aquamation at $80 to $450 depending on size[7]. As a real example, a Delaware provider charges $150–$450[9] for private aquamation by weight, including a standard urn, and $50–$225[10] for communal. Prices in New Orleans depend on who offers it, so ask for a written total.
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 Louisiana's cremation rate at 46.4% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Memorials.com's pet urn cost guide puts biodegradable pet urns at $15–$80. Memorials.com – Pet Urn Cost Guide, 2025.
- [7] Embrace Pet Insurance lists US communal cremation at $30-$200, partitioned at $50-$250, private at $100-$500+ and aquamation at $80-$450. Embrace Pet Insurance - Bury or Cremate Your Dog? Costs, Pros & Cons, 2025.
- [8] U.S. pet flame cremations emit on the order of 47,000 t CO2e a year. Our estimate: 1.5M pet cremations x 31.3 kg CO2e. How we calculate.
- [9] Delaware Pet Aquamation charges $150–$450 for private aquamation by weight, from under 10 lb to 150 lb and over, including a standard urn. Delaware Pet Aquamation – Pricing, 2026.
- [10] Communal aquamation at the same Delaware provider costs $50–$225 by weight. Delaware Pet Aquamation – Pricing, 2026.
Get bio urn options for New Orleans
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.