Cats Tale - Cat Articles & Stories
 The most unusual funeral I have ever participated in took place a couple of years ago. A lady telephoned me at work, inquiring about infant caskets. She was preparing for the death of her old and much-loved cat that was soon to pass away. The lady came out to my funeral home that day and I showed her all of our infant caskets. She purchased a rather expensive one for her cat. I pride myself on customer service, so as I helped her put the casket in her car, I told her that when the cat died, I’d be glad to come out to the house and help her close the casket.
I didn’t think I’d ever hear from her again, but a few days later she called me up and said her cat had died. She said she would like me to do more than just help her close the casket: she wanted me to arrange a complete funeral for her cat. It would take place at her house, but she asked me to provide a hearse and a limousine. I also found a minister to say a few words at the graveside service. I went over to the house the night before the funeral to deliver some prayer cards the family had ordered. The house was lit with candlelight, and in the center of about twenty glowing candlesticks lay the cat in his casket. It was the most interesting thing I have ever seen. I was impressed with how the cat had been placed in the casket, sort of lying on his side. He looked very peaceful. I wouldn’t have been sure how to put a cat in a casket if they had left it up to me. The family had made all the arrangements with the cemetery themselves and told me that they had purposely let the cemetery officials believe that they were burying their own child instead of a cat. Although they asked me to keep their secret for them, I explained that I wasn’t going to lie. Except for the fact that it was for a cat, the funeral was like hundreds that I had performed before. After I solemnly closed the small casket and placed it in the hearse, the somber procession drove to the cemetery, where the catholic priest gave a eulogy. There were only a handful of mourners. After everybody left, the gravedigger came over and asked me for a burial-transit permit. A burial-transit permit is the legal paperwork needed to bury a person, which obviously I didn’t have. I said, “This is a cat.” He seemed very surprised, but the cat got buried anyway. To this day, whenever I meet a new minister, I ask him if he would ever do a funeral for a pet. I never know when I might be in that predicament again. I’m also on the look-out for pet verses for the prayer cards, because there doesn’t seem to be a very good selection. |