RAINING CATS AND DOGS

Robin Lauver flipped a switch and something that looked like a small garage door slowly slid up, revealing the calcified bone fragments of a cat.

Lauver runs a pet cremation service in Monaghan Township, York County just south of the Cumberland County line. The fragments were the remains of

He swept the remains, called cremains, into a collection pan and poured them into a processor. The machine resembles a bingo ball mixer, except its cylindrical cage contains ball bearings. The processor ground the cremains into dust. Lauver placed the cremains in a white bag, wrapped the cat's hair in cellophane and put both pouches in an urn that looked like a jewelry box.

Pet owners are spending more money on post-death services for their companion animals, a trend that is fueling the growth of the pet-bereavement industry, observers said.

"More people want to be present for the cremation for finality and to show respect to the animal," said Lauver, owner of Companion Animal Cremation Service. CACS is one of several pet businesses he runs on Golden Lake Pet Care Campus.

Specific industrywide financial figures are hard to come by, but Lauver offered some statistics. A decade ago, 15 percent of his pet cremations were private, meaning the pets were incinerated individually and their owners took the cremains home to memorialize them, which is what happened with the cat. Currently, that figure is about 50 percent. Private cremations cost more than the alternative, memorialization cremations, in which up to five pets are cremated together and their owners receive no cremains.

Private cremations cost between $225 and $350, Lauver said, depending on the animal's weight. Memorialization cremations cost between $80 and $195.

Pet owners are spending more on cremations at Yorkshire Animal Hospital, too. They also are spending more to keep their pets healthy and alive, said Elyse Bugalla, a hospital employee. The animal hospital in Springettsbury Township, York County, also cremates animals.

More people pay the extra $25 to get their pets' cremains, instead of having the hospital dispose of them, Bugalla said. Many take their pets to orthopedic specialists, dermatologists and cancer-treatment centers when the hospital refers them.

"It's all very costly, but people are willing to spend the money for their pets' care," Bugalta said.

In 1996, $11.1 billion was spent on pet health care, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. In 2001, that figure had increased to $19 billion.

Lauver's clients take more time with their deceased pets during the bereavement process. A decade ago, 1 percent of his clients attended the cremations. Currently, that figure is between 30 percent and 35 percent.

Within two years, Lauver hopes to begin cremating pets at a second location. In January, his business partner, Rod Bates, bought a building at 304 S. Progress Ave. in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County, because it is in a more visible location than Golden Lake.

Slowly, society is becoming more accepting of people grieving over the loss of their pets. There are more ways for pet owners to handle their grief and remember their pets.

Six months ago, Tim Hewson launched a Web site for people to post free online memorials for dead pets. People can pay to keep the memorials posted for more than three months or to add more to a standard posting. All profits from the site, www.lLovedMyPet.com, are donated to The Humane Society of the United States and the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.

ILovedMyPet.com has about 5,000 online pet memorials, Hewson said.

"If you'd had a dog for 15 years, it was probably like family to you. But, I don't think people get the same respect for the loss of a pet as they do for the loss of a family member," Hewson said. "But, I think that's changing."

Pets are becoming increasingly important to their owners, said Sharon Granskog, assistant director of media relations with the veterinary association.

"If people have the money, they will forgo a lot of luxury things for their pets," Granskog said. "The human-animal bond is a very strong connection."

Eighty-two percent of pet owners said their pet is like. a child to them, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Lauver started a pet memorial and cemetery business in 1992 at Golden Lake because his clients wanted a place where they could remember their pets.

"We bury them more for the living than the deceased," Lauver said.

In May, Lauver created a nonprofit organization called PA State Pet Memorial & Cemetery. He wanted to ensure that his 5-acre pet memorial and cemetery by the same name is not targeted for development. The property houses pets' cremains or bodies. Markers dot gardens that have benches and water.

Most of the pets buried there are dogs, but there are also 12 horses, Lauver said.

Lauver plans to create a Garden of Companions, where the cremains of pets and their owners will be buried together in urns, and a Memorial Forest, where pets will be buried next to trees that will be planted.

Another service gaining in popularity is taxidermy. Between I percent and 2 percent of Lauver's clients use a taxidermist recommended by Lauver. To help his clients deal with their grief, Laver started a free pet-loss support group in 1994. A psychologist holds weekly meetings.