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Has The Crematorium Let Me Down?

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Wiggie

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I had three poorly piggies cremated, one came back as 12g another 25g and another 52g. They were all similar weight. How can there be 80% difference? Has my beloved pet not been returned to be as she should? You would not have an 80% difference with a human. I am distraught and going to ask for answers at the vets tomorrow. I paid a lot of money for individual cremations. Please advise me before I make a fool of myself tomorrow demanding answers.
x
 
Am sorry, I have no idea, I don't usually weigh mine when they come back but the company my vet uses specifically state on their website that if you ask for ashes back they are individually cremated. Maybe someone else will know?
 
Thanks Helen and TEAs. I am so upset, I have not cried so much for a while. The 52g one looks like black sooty ashes and the 25g and 12g look whitish grey with slightly bigger bone fragments.
One would think with such a discrepancy the crematorium would give some explanation why they were so different. The weights were similar at the time of death and not 80% different.
I guess an explanation could be the box and towel were in the black sooty ashes which weighed 52g. However 12g and 25g seems a large decrepancy also for the whitish great ashes. I will take all my boxes and ashes tomorrow to the vet and ask them to explain it all to me.
Thanks for your support.
 
Wiggie said:
Thanks Helen and TEAs. I am so upset, I have not cried so much for a while. The 52g one looks like black sooty ashes and the 25g and 12g look whitish grey with slightly bigger bone fragments.
One would think with such a discrepancy the crematorium would give some explanation why they were so different. The weights were similar at the time of death and not 80% different.
I guess an explanation could be the box and towel were in the black sooty ashes which weighed 52g. However 12g and 25g seems a large decrepancy also for the whitish great ashes. I will take all my boxes and ashes tomorrow to the vet and ask them to explain it all to me.
Thanks for your support.
Click to expand...

It is most likely due to the temperature of the individual cremation as to how much has been burned away; especially in the one with the highest weight, which looks to have burned at a lower temperature.
I must admit that I have never weighed any cremations of mine, though.
 
I haven't weighed any of mine either, they came back in a paper wrap, so I can't really tell you if there is any difference to yours, but can understand how distressed you must feel right now :( I had a problem with my last one in that we paid at the vets & she was collected from there & afterwards the crematorium said their prices had gone up & the vets asked us for the balance :( I was very upset over that as you can imagine. Hugs for you xx
 
I know it's a very difficult time and sensitive subject but try to remain calm and just enquire as to why they are so different and what could have happened but as Wiebke says with the difference in colours it might be that the cremations were done at different temperatures. I hope you get some answers that bring comfort x
 
Thanks for all your support. Two died very close together., days apart for different things. Hence they came back together as I sent them off together. I have a special box I was going to keep them all in. My other piggy died a few months ago. They all were all wrapped individually in a pretty tea towel and placed in a card box.

It is crazy if they were cremated together I would have needed to pay and extra £30 but if I had a single animal weighed up to 2.5kg it would be £10 more. Two bodies less than 2kg costs £20 more than one body of the same weight. So I paid for two separate individual cremations.

i had three piggies that died in a few months it has been a bit rubbish.

I guess other people don't like looking at ashes, I guess I felt compelled, especially as I wanted to keep them in the same wooden box, in separate little bags. I therefore could visually and physically feel the difference in weight. I planned to label the bags and keep them in the one special little box.

I will still go to the vet tomorrow.
 
I weighed mine & in the little plastic bag inside the paper one their ashes weighed 60g each. They were about 1200g when they were alive, hope this helps x
 
Poppy's Mum, thank you for weighing your ashes, I know it is sad holding ashes. One of mine being 12g does not sound right does it. I have requested the vet to investigate what has happened as I paid them to provide the service. I am trying not to get upset, I have done what I can. Thanks for your support. Xx
 
When my dad died my mum kept his ashes so they could be scattered together, after she passed. Mum was really frail when she passed away but I had more ashes from my mum than I did from my dad. Had his settled more or just diminished? He died in 1980 and my mum in 2004. I really hadn't given it a thought until I read your post and do you know what? I really don't care! They were scattered together as they wanted. Reunited forever!

Please don't be upset about it. You have memories that live on in your heart. I just see the cremated remains as a symbol of who they were. X
 
I'm so sorry you sound very upset and maybe in shock from the loss of 3 piggies so close together? I'm sure that it was something like the temperature. I'm sure there was no wrong doing on the part of the crem. Big hugs xx
 
Sorry to hear about this. I have yet to weigh all of mine, but I trust my crematorium inpleictly and take my piggies to them myself. They're a private family owned company as I am very picky about where I take them. I would agree that he a out of ashes may well depend on the temperature of the furnace and higher temperatures could mean that less bones are there at the end to collect. Blankets or other items are very rarely if ever cremated with the animals and even if they are do not change the weight of ashes as the ashes are just reminants of bones. This is further down the line if you really become worried but the ashes can actually be tested for the DNA, so you could actually find out for sure that your little one is there.

Sorry for the rough descriptions but trying to help out by letting you know how it works.

x
 
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