Preserving your pet from Oakdale: the first hours and beyond
Roughly 940 dogs and cats die in Oakdale each year, by our estimate, and most go to cremation by default. If you'd like to preserve yours, tell your vet today and get them into a freezer within hours.
- Freeze-drying, taxidermy or a partial keepsake
- Honest about waits and results
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Oakdale, Minnesota
Finding a practitioner from Oakdale
Veterinarians around the east metro can often come to an Oakdale home for euthanasia, sparing an anxious animal the drive and the waiting room. The final moments can happen on a favorite cushion, with the family gathered or with just one person present. The aftercare provider collects afterward at a time you agree on, so the goodbye itself never has to be rushed.
Missing the routine can hurt as much as missing the animal: the feeding time, the evening company on the couch, the sound of movement upstairs. Weeks of sadness are normal, and grief often returns without warning. Twin Cities pet loss groups, some meeting online, and counselors familiar with animal loss can help, as can a friend who has been through the same thing.
Dry ice isn't always stocked in a town the size of Oakdale. If you're shipping your pet to a distant practitioner, you may need to buy it in a larger centre such as Saint Paul on the morning you send. Handle it with gloves, keep the car windows cracked while you drive and never seal it into an airtight container, because the gas needs to escape.
About 30,588 people live in Oakdale, which makes it the 34th-largest of the 67 Minnesota communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Saint Paul, about 7 miles (11 km) away, which is where some providers serving Oakdale are based.
Oakdale sits within easy reach of Maplewood (4 miles), White Bear Lake (6 miles) and Woodbury (6 miles, a larger centre). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Oakdale; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
11,500
How many dog- or cat-owning households Oakdale has (estimate)
How we calculated this
30,588 ÷ 2.5 = 12,235 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 11,500. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
940
Oakdale families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
11,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 940 a year. Treat it as a minimum.
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 Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, if you'd like to read the original sources.
Why preservation means speaking up early in Minnesota
Roughly 68.5%[5] of people in Minnesota are cremated, and the rest are mostly buried, so families here are used to both ideas. Preservation is a third way of keeping a pet close, and one with a hard deadline: it has to be decided on, at least provisionally, before the body warms. Freeze first, and the burial or cremation choice for anything you don't keep can wait.
For the Minnesota figure we rely on NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Read it as a picture of local custom around death and remembrance in Oakdale rather than as pet data.
Seasons, shipping and humidity in Oakdale
Frozen ground through January, February, March, November and December in Oakdale means burying anything you don't keep may have to wait until spring. That's fine. Whatever the practitioner returns, or your whole pet if you change your mind, can stay in the freezer until the soil softens. Label the bag clearly with your pet's name and the date so nobody opens it by mistake.
Dry indoor heat through Oakdale winters is fine for a preserved pet, but placement still matters. Keep the piece away from radiators, heating vents and fireplaces, which dry and crack delicate features, and away from cold windows where condensation forms. A shelf on an inside wall, out of direct sun, usually suits a freeze-dried or mounted pet well year-round.
Budgeting for freeze-drying or taxidermy from Oakdale
It helps to set preservation beside ordinary aftercare. Private dog cremation averages about $260[6] nationally, while one price guide puts freeze-drying a cat or little dog at $1,000–$2,500[7]. By our estimate, that makes freeze-drying roughly ten times the price of a private cremation[8]. Seen that way, a single preserved paw with the rest cremated can be a sensible middle path for families in Oakdale.
Prices for Oakdale track the wider Minnesota market, so use the Minnesota price table as your baseline and the services page to see what is included.
Free tool
Freeze-dry & taxidermy cost estimator
Estimate cost and waiting time for freeze-drying or taxidermy by size and pose.
What Minnesota rules mean for a preserved pet
Most of the paperwork you'll sign for preservation is a contract, not a permit. Read what it says about the deposit, storage fees if you can't collect on time, and what happens to your pet if the studio closes or the practitioner falls ill. Keep a copy with your pet's photos. For whatever won't be kept, the rules for Minnesota below apply.
To find your county or city office in Minnesota, start with the official Minnesota local government directory.
We keep Minnesota's burial and scattering rules in one place: the Minnesota rules summary. Before a home burial in Oakdale, also ask the city whether local ordinances add anything.
A checklist for the first hours
- Freeze first, decide later. A pet frozen quickly and kept frozen can wait weeks while you choose.
- Blot, don't wash. Dab off any moisture with paper towel and keep the coat as dry as it is.
- Pose gently and bag tightly. A natural sleeping curl, then two heavy bags with the air pressed out to prevent freezer burn on the face and ears.
- Plan for a power cut. Work out now where dry ice or a spare freezer could come from, in case the power stayed off longer than a day.
- Ask two or three practitioners whether they take your species and size, how long their queue is and how they want your pet delivered.
- Ship or drop off frozen; if it's going by courier, send it at the start of the week and request a message as soon as it's in their hands.
Keepsakes, displays and gentler options
Roughly 68.5% of Minnesotans are cremated, and many Oakdale households take a similarly practical path for their animals. A memorial might be a candle and a few photos on the night the urn comes home, or a family visit to the nature preserve to share stories. Giving children a task, such as picking the photo for the frame, helps them feel part of it.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, try the free planning tools, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, browse in-depth guides or recent articles. More local pages: Saint Paul, Bloomington, Minneapolis and Rochester, the Minnesota overview and every city in the United States.
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 were preserving your pet, which route would you lean toward?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How do you feel about waiting months for a preserved pet to come home?
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.
Questions people ask
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Oakdale?
Usually yes. Maplewood is about 4 miles away, White Bear Lake is about 6 miles away and Woodbury is about 6 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
How do Minnesota attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the Minnesota human cremation rate at about 68.5%[5]. We show it on the Oakdale page because pet aftercare choices tend to track it: where cremation is normal for people, communal and private pet cremation are both easy to find.
Where are the providers that serve Oakdale actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Saint Paul, about 7 miles away. That is normal for a town this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Oakdale and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Oakdale?
January, February, March, November and December: average lows are below freezing then, and frozen ground makes a home grave slow or impossible until it thaws. The other pressure point is July, when highs around 81°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Does the euthanasia injection affect preservation?
Generally, no. Practitioners routinely work on pets who were put to sleep. What matters far more is what happens next: how much fur was clipped, whether your pet was kept cool and how soon they were frozen. Mention any shaved patches or bandaged areas when you describe your pet, so the practitioner knows what to expect when your pet thaws.
Can I preserve just a paw or tail and have the rest of my pet cremated?
Yes, and many families find it easier to live with than a full-body piece. The practitioner preserves the paw, tail, wing or feathers, and the rest of your pet goes to a cremation provider. Agree in writing who handles the handover and that the cremation is private, so the ashes you get back are your pet's alone. Partial work usually costs far less and takes less time.
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 Minnesota's cremation rate at 68.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for private dog cremation at $260 (range $206-$473). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [7] Memorials.com puts freeze-drying at $1,000–$2,500 for a cat or small dog and $2,000–$5,000+ for a medium to large dog. Memorials.com – Pet Taxidermy Guide, 2025.
- [8] Freeze-drying a cat or small dog costs about 10 times a private cremation. Our estimate: midpoint freeze-dry $1,750 ($1,000–$2,500) / $175 (private cremation 3–24 lb, NC provider). How we calculate.
- [9] The pet preservation (freeze-dry/taxidermy) market adds only about USD 2.7 million a year, far slower than pet funeral services. Our estimate: (112.7M - 88.6M) / 9 years. How we calculate.
Ask which practitioners take your pet
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.