I wasn’t sure whether to write this one. It’s not an easy subject, and I didn’t want it to come across as “buy our stuff because your pet died.” That’s not what this is. But over the past year, some of the most moving messages we’ve received at PawPrintables have come from people who bought one of our memorial prints and told us how much it meant to them. One woman in Cardiff said she cries every time she walks past it in her hallway, but she wouldn’t take it down for the world. A man in Edinburgh ordered one for his mum after her cat of nineteen years passed, and said it was the first time she’d smiled in weeks.
So I thought it was worth talking about — not to sell you something, but to acknowledge that losing a pet is a real, proper grief that deserves to be treated with respect.
The gap nobody talks about
When a person dies, there are rituals. Funerals, wakes, sympathy cards, flowers. People bring casseroles. Your boss gives you time off. Society has a framework for that kind of loss, and while it doesn’t fix anything, it at least tells you that your grief is valid.
When a pet dies, you get maybe a day of people being kind about it before someone says “it was only a dog” or “you can always get another one.” And you smile politely and nod while internally thinking about how that dog was the reason you got out of bed during lockdown, or how that cat was the last living connection to a relationship that ended five years ago, or how that rabbit was your daughter’s first real friend.
Pet grief is real. It’s messy and complicated and often comes with guilt — did I wait too long? Did I not wait long enough? Should I have noticed sooner? — and it doesn’t fit neatly into any of the boxes our culture has built for mourning.
I think that’s why memorial gifts resonate so much. They’re a physical acknowledgement that this creature mattered. That they were here. That they were loved.
The Rainbow Bridge portrait
The idea behind our Personalised Rainbow Bridge Pet Memorial Portrait came from a conversation with a customer who’d just lost her border collie. She said she wanted something beautiful to put on the wall — not a photo, because photos made her too sad at that point, but something that felt like a tribute. Something hopeful.
If you’re not familiar with the Rainbow Bridge poem, it’s been circulating among pet owners for decades. The idea is that when a pet dies, they go to a beautiful meadow at the foot of a rainbow bridge, where they’re restored to full health and happiness. And they wait there, playing and running, until the day you arrive — and then you cross the bridge together.
Whether you believe in that literally or just find it comforting as a metaphor, it’s a powerful image. Our portrait captures it — your pet’s name, a custom design, and the sense that they’re somewhere peaceful.
You send us your pet’s name and, if you like, a photo and a special message or poem. We create the portrait by hand (well, by designer — but each one is individually made, not generated from a template) and send you the files. You can get it as a digital download to print at home or at a local print shop, or order a printed version in sizes from 5x7” up to a proper statement piece at 12x16”.
The digital download is £9.99. Printed versions start at £9.99 too, depending on size.
When the memorial is about the beginning, not the end
Here’s something we’ve noticed — a lot of people don’t want a memorial gift that’s about death. They want one that’s about life. About the moment everything started.
That’s why we created the Personalised “The Day We Met” Adoption Print. It’s for rescue dog and cat owners — the ones who walked into a shelter or a foster home not knowing what to expect and walked out with a creature who would completely rearrange their life.
The print features your pet’s name, the date you adopted them, the town where you found each other, and a photo. It celebrates the beginning of the story. And for people whose pets have since passed, it becomes a beautiful way to remember the whole journey — not just the end of it.
One of our customers, a woman in Manchester, ordered one after her rescue greyhound died at thirteen. She said she’d been so focused on the loss that she’d forgotten how incredible that first day was — driving home with this enormous, trembling dog who’d never been in a car before, who spent the first night sleeping on her feet because he was too scared to be alone. The print brought all of that back. The good stuff.
It’s available as an A3 poster, in a wooden frame, or as a digital download. You choose what works for your space and your budget.
Making it personal
Our Personalised Pet Portrait isn’t specifically a memorial product, but a lot of people use it that way. You send us your pet’s name, a photo, and an optional special message, and we create a custom piece of wall art.
Some people order these while their pets are still alive — as a celebration, not a memorial. Others order them after. Either way works. The result is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece that captures something about who your pet was.
Available as a digital download or printed in several sizes, starting at £9.99.
Buying a memorial gift for someone else
This is the tricky one. You want to acknowledge their loss, but you don’t want to be the person who makes them cry at work when they open a package. Here are a few things we’ve learned from customers:
Timing matters. Immediately after a loss, people are often still in shock. A gift that arrives a few weeks later — when the initial wave of sympathy has died down but the grief hasn’t — can mean even more. It says “I haven’t forgotten.”
Don’t overthink the message. “I know how much they meant to you” is enough. You don’t need to write a eulogy on the gift tag.
Let them choose. If you’re not sure what they’d want, the digital download versions are great because the person can print it at whatever size they like, whenever they’re ready.
It doesn’t have to be sad. The adoption print, the pet portrait — these celebrate the life, not the loss. Sometimes that’s exactly what someone needs.
A note from us
We’re a small team, and we read every single message that comes through with our personalised orders. Some of them are heartbreaking. Some of them are beautiful. All of them remind us why we do this.
If you’ve recently lost a pet, we’re sorry. They were lucky to have you.
Browse our full memorial collection whenever you’re ready.