Keeping your pet close in Reno: pendants, rings and glass
Around 8,700 dogs and cats die in Reno each year, by our estimate, and many families keep a little of the ashes to wear. Here's what pendants, glass and diamonds cost and how to get one filled safely.
- Less than a teaspoon of ashes per piece
- Water, heat and daily-wear advice
- Help comparing makers near Reno
Reno, Nevada
Who fills and seals ash jewelry around Reno
The dry climate around Reno makes planting a living memorial a little harder than in wetter places. If you'd like a tree or shrub, choose a drought-tolerant native, plant in spring or fall, and water deeply through its first summers. A bio urn can work well in a large pot or raised bed where you can control the soil and watering.
Outdoor memorials in Reno face intense high-desert sun, big temperature swings and winter freezes. Granite, bronze and stainless steel last well, while painted wood and printed photos fade and cheap resin cracks. Set a garden stone on a gravel base so it drains, and consider a spot with some afternoon shade to slow weathering over the years. Indoor pieces avoid the problem entirely.
Some Reno jewelers are happy to fill a pendant for a small fee; others would rather not handle ashes. Neither is unusual. If you're struggling to find someone, ask at a jeweler who does repairs and engraving, since they're used to fiddly work with small screws, or look at providers serving Las Vegas, where a studio may take the job.
Reno is home to about 283,621 people, the 4th-largest of the 11 Nevada communities we cover.
Families in Reno often end up using a provider from Sparks (6 miles), Incline Village (21 miles) and Carson City (26 miles). That is normal: crematories serve a radius, not a single town, and the drive is priced into collection.
Our estimate
105,000
How many dog- or cat-owning households Reno has (estimate)
How we calculated this
283,621 ÷ 2.5 = 113,448 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 105,000. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
8,700
dog and cat deaths per year in Reno, our estimate
How we calculated this
105,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 8,700 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.
We built the this numbers from American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, and both are worth a look if you want the detail.
Cremation in Nevada and wearing a little of your pet
In Nevada, about 80.7%[5] of people are cremated, and that shapes how families think about pet ashes too. Relatives rarely question a pendant or a glass bead, and some will want one of their own. If a grandparent or a sibling was close to your pet, ask them early; it's easier to plan the portions before anything is sealed than to reopen an urn later.
Direct Cremate (citing CANA) (2024) is where the Nevada figure comes from. It counts people; we use it because attitudes to cremating a pet in Reno tend to follow attitudes to cremation generally.
Heat, humidity and cold: caring for your piece in Reno
Weather in Reno can also slow mail both ways. Summer heat can leave parcels in hot depots, and winter storms in January, February, November and December can delay deliveries. If you're sending ashes to a maker or waiting on a finished piece, ship early in the week, use a tracked service with a signature and ask the maker to confirm arrival by email.
Big seasonal swings are tough on resin. A fur or ash resin piece that bakes in a Reno car in summer and then sits in a cold car in winter can cloud or develop tiny cracks over the years. Keep resin pieces on your person or indoors, and let glass pendants warm up gradually after a cold day before a hot shower.
Prices by metal, glass and diamond
Memorial diamonds have the widest price range of anything on this page. Some labs advertise stones for as little as $750–$995[6], while a larger lab charges $3,499[7] for 0.25 carat and $15,000 for a full carat[8], roughly $14,000 to $15,000 per carat at any size[9]. For most Reno families, a silver or glass piece does the same emotional job for a fraction of that.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Nevada: Nevada costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
What Nevada allows with your pet's ashes
One practical point matters before any jewelry decision: the cremation has to be individual if you want ashes back, since communal cremations don't return them. After that, Nevada leaves the ashes largely to you. What follows summarizes local scattering and burial points, useful because most of the ashes will still need a home once a pendant is filled.
Washoe County Regional Animal Services publishes Reno's official guidance. Note that it deals with public collection, not with booking a private cremation. Not sure which office covers Reno? The Nevada local government directory is the official list.
The Nevada page sets out who oversees pet cremation and what the state says about burial and scattering. Reno's own bylaws can sit on top of that, so ask before you dig.
What to do first, and what can wait
- Set a small portion aside. Ask the crematory to pack a teaspoon separately, or take one from the urn yourself with a clean spoon over a sheet of paper.
- Decide who the pieces are for. Count everyone who wants one before you buy, so the set matches and the portions are planned.
- Choose a material that fits daily life. Steel or titanium for sensitive skin, glass for no leaks, sterling for a classic look, a diamond if permanence matters most.
- Pick local filling or mail-in. A Reno jeweler can fill and seal in person; a specialist elsewhere may offer more designs but means mailing ashes.
- Get a written price. Ask the quote to spell out what's covered: fill, seal, chain, engraving and the postage back to you.
- Seal and check. Make sure the screw is sealed with adhesive, then check it again after the first week of wear.
Sharing the memory with family
Many Reno families love the mountains and the lake, and some want part of a pet's ashes to stay close to home while the rest is scattered somewhere wild. Asking for the ashes to be divided into a main urn and smaller keepsakes, or a pendant or ring, lets you do both. A paw print taken before cremation is another lasting keepsake.
or look at how readers voted in our polls, read our guides and latest articles, use the free tools before you ring anyone, Every option Reno families choose between is on the services page. If you live between Reno and Summerlin, Carson City, Henderson and Sparks, either page applies. Every other community in Nevada, 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 get a piece for anyone else in the family?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What worries you most about wearing your pet's ashes?
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.
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
Why does the Reno page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. Direct Cremate (citing CANA) (2024) reports about 80.7%[5] of Nevada residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Reno?
Usually yes. Sparks is about 6 miles away, Incline Village is about 21 miles away and Carson City is about 26 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Roughly how many pets die in Reno each year?
Our estimate is around 8,700. It comes from Reno's population (about 283,621), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 105,000 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
Does the Reno climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 94°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, November and December, when lows sit below freezing, a home burial may have to wait for a thaw, so cremation with ashes returned keeps your options open.
How do I get a small portion out of a sealed urn in Reno?
Many urns open from the base, with screws or a sliding panel under a felt pad. Inside there's usually a plastic bag with a twist tie. Open it over a tray, lift out a spoonful with a dry teaspoon, then retie the bag and close the urn. If the urn is glued, or you'd rather not do it, the crematory that returned the ashes or a Reno jeweler can usually help.
My pet was cremated years ago. Can I still have jewelry made?
Yes. Cremated remains are stable mineral and don't change over time, so ashes from years ago work just as well. Open the urn over a sheet of paper, take a teaspoon with a clean spoon and seal the urn again. If the ashes are in a sealed container you'd rather not open, a Reno jeweler or the original crematory may help.
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] Nevada had a 80.7% cremation rate in 2024, among the highest in the US. Direct Cremate (citing CANA), 2024.
- [6] Eterneva says some memorial-diamond competitors advertise stones for as little as $750–$995. Eterneva – Ashes to Diamonds Cost Guide, 2026.
- [7] Eterneva prices a 0.25-carat memorial diamond from ashes at $3,499; its range starts at $2,999 for 0.1 carat. Eterneva – Pet Ashes to Diamonds, 2026.
- [8] Eterneva charges $15,000 for a 1-carat memorial diamond and $75,000 for 5 carats. Eterneva – Pet Ashes to Diamonds, 2026.
- [9] Eterneva's memorial diamonds cost roughly $14,000–$15,000 per carat whether small or large. Our estimate: 0.25 ct $3,499 / 0.25 = $13,996/ct; 1 ct $15,000/ct; 5 ct $75,000 / 5 = $15,000/ct. How we calculate.
- [10] Entry-level sterling silver pet-ash necklaces cost about 4.4 times entry-level stainless steel ones. Our estimate: $87.95 / $19.95 (Memorials.com starting prices). How we calculate.
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