Wearing your pet's ashes in Seaside: jewelry options
Seaside has an estimated 11,500 dog- or cat-owning households. When one of those pets dies, a pendant, ring or glass bead lets the whole family carry a pinch of ashes. This is the plain guide to doing it well.
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Seaside, California
How Seaside owners get a memorial piece made
Many Seaside families have a connection to the military bases and schools on the Monterey Peninsula, and they often carry memorials with them from post to post. A framed paw print, a nameplate from a collar or a small urn that fits in a moving box can keep a pet's memory with you wherever you are stationed next. If you rent base housing, an indoor memorial avoids any questions about changes to the yard.
Salt air, fog and wind are what outdoor memorials face in Seaside, rather than heat or frost. Granite and glazed ceramics weather well; some metals and painted surfaces corrode near the coast. If you plant a bio urn, a coastal native plant will usually handle the conditions and need little care once it settles in. Keep engraved faces out of the direct path of the prevailing wind so salt spray does not dull the lettering, and rinse the surface now and then.
If you live outside Seaside on a farm or a rural road, mail and parcel pickup can be less predictable, so plan around it. Have the maker ship pieces to a post office box or a workplace if deliveries tend to go astray, and choose tracked, signature services both ways. A memorial piece left on a porch in the rain is a worry nobody needs.
About 31,636 people live in Seaside, which makes it the 209th-largest of the 307 California communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Seaside are based about 50 miles away in San Jose, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
If you want to compare providers, look at Monterey (3 miles), Pacific Grove (4 miles) and Marina (5 miles). Distance matters because pickup fees and the time until the ashes come back both grow with the drive.
Our estimate
11,500
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Seaside
How we calculated this
31,636 ÷ 2.5 = 12,654 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 11,500. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
970
dog and cat deaths per year in Seaside, our estimate
How we calculated this
11,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 970 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.
The numbers above come from American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, if you'd like to read the original sources.
Why ashes jewelry is familiar (or new) in California
Cremation is the norm in California, at about 70.5%[5] of people. Where it's this common, people often keep a small share of ashes and pass the rest on, to be scattered, buried or kept by another relative. Jewelry fits neatly into that habit. Many families here plan the split from the start: a pinch for each pendant, a little for scattering and the rest in the urn.
The California percentage above is from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) and refers to human funerals. Treat it as context for Seaside, not as a count of pets.
Wearing ash jewelry through Seaside's seasons
A mild climate like Seaside's means ring sizes stay fairly steady through the year, which is good news if you're ordering a sealed ring with ashes. Still, measure at the end of the day when your fingers are at their largest. Sealed rings are hard to resize, and a comfort-fit band gives a bit of leeway.
If you like the outdoors around Seaside, the realistic risks are garden soil, sea air and the occasional knock rather than heat or ice. Take a filled pendant off for gardening and swimming, rinse off salt after a day at the coast and keep glass pieces away from stone floors and hard countertops, where a drop is most likely to chip them.
How much to budget for a memorial piece
Prints and fur are the inexpensive part if you plan early. By our estimate, paw-print add-ons at US crematories have a median price of about $32[6], ranging from $10 to $76, and a fur clipping can cost as little as $5[7]. Have them done before cremation in Seaside, even if the jewelry order comes months later, because they can't be made afterwards.
The full price table by product is on our California page, and the services page explains what each option includes.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Before you divide the ashes: California basics
Wearing ashes is a private choice, and California asks for no permit or form to keep a portion in a pendant or ring. The questions that do carry rules come afterwards: where the remaining ashes may be scattered or buried, and how a portion may travel if your maker is elsewhere. Below is the California side; a postal carrier's own conditions sit alongside it.
Not sure which office covers Seaside? The California local government directory is the official list.
Start with the California rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Seaside's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
Your order, one step at a time
- List everyone who might want something, and don't forget those who were close to your pet but haven't said anything.
- Ask each person three things: whether they'd prefer a necklace, a ring or a keyring; what metal sits well on their skin; and if they want ashes inside, fur, or just a print.
- Work out how far the ashes go. The sharing planner shows the split once the pieces are counted.
- Order the set from one maker to keep the finish, the chains and the engraving consistent, and check if there's a different price for a set.
- Fill every piece in one sitting, opening the urn once and closing it properly afterwards.
- Post far-away pieces with tracking, each in its own little box alongside a care card and a few written words.
Other ways to remember your pet in Seaside
Seaside has a mix of older bungalows, apartments and newer homes on the former base lands, and many residents are military or university families who may move again. Portable memorials often make sense here: a small urn, a keepsake box or ashes jewelry that travels easily. If you are staying put, a garden stone or planting can mark a favorite spot in the yard.
read our guides and latest articles, or look at how readers voted in our polls, Every option Seaside families choose between is on the services page, try the free planning tools. You can also browse every city in the United States. Nearby, we also cover San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco and Sacramento, and every city in California.
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 wore something with your pet's ashes, what would it be?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Would you get a piece for anyone else in the family?
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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.
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
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Seaside?
Usually yes. Monterey is about 3 miles away, Pacific Grove is about 4 miles away and Marina is about 5 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Will I have to travel to San Jose to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in San Jose (roughly 50 miles from Seaside) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
Does the Seaside climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In September, with highs near 74°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. Winters here are mild enough that burial or scattering is possible in any month.
Is cremation common in California?
For people, yes: about 70.5%[5] of California deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Seaside follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Can the crematory near Seaside set ashes aside for jewelry?
Usually yes, if you ask before the ashes are returned. Most crematories will pack a teaspoon or so separately in a small labeled bag, which saves you opening the main container later. Your vet in Seaside can pass the request on. Some regional crematories also sell pendants and will fill one before sending everything back.
What if my memorial pendant breaks or I lose it?
If it breaks, stop wearing it and put it in a small sealed bag straight away so no ash is lost. A jeweler can often replace a bail or clasp without opening the chamber. For peace of mind, keep a little spare ash in the urn so a replacement can be filled, and ask whether your home insurance covers jewelry.
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 California's cremation rate at 70.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] 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.
- [7] Memorial add-ons at A Greener Place: $15 laser-engraved paw print, $10 clay paw impression, $10 nose print, $5 fur clipping. A Greener Place Pet Aquamation – Pricing, 2026.
- [8] The typical sterling silver pet cremation pendant costs about $190, based on the middle of three sellers' price points. Our estimate: median of [Urns.com median $129, Memorials.com midpoint of $87.95–$297.95 = $193, Final Gift sterling paw pendant $240]. How we calculate.
Find a maker for your pet's ashes
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.