Pet freeze-drying and taxidermy in Great Falls
By our estimate, about 22,000 households in Great Falls have a dog or cat. Only a small share of families ever consider preservation, so if you're one of them, here's how to freeze your pet in time and what comes next.
- Clear steps for the first few hours
- Shipping frozen, explained plainly
- No pressure, we reply by email
Great Falls, Montana
Finding a practitioner from Great Falls
A goodbye in Great Falls can happen in the living room during a vet's house call, out on the ranch where the animal spent its life, or quietly at the clinic. Children usually do better when someone tells them plainly what is happening and hands them a small, meaningful task, like picking a collar tag, a feather or a drawing to send along with their friend.
Losing an animal is a real bereavement, and long, cold Montana winters can make it feel heavier. If the sadness lingers, speak with a counselor in town or a national pet-loss helpline. Military families can also check with support services on base. A brief word to a teacher or supervisor about the loss is usually enough to earn some extra patience during the harder weeks after.
Snow, floods or a long drive can make reaching a larger centre such as Great Falls from Great Falls impossible on the day your pet dies. Don't wait for the roads to clear before cooling your pet. Use your own freezer, a neighbor's, or a cooler topped up with fresh ice every few hours, and write down each step, because a practitioner will ask.
Great Falls is home to about 60,208 people, the 3rd-largest of the 10 Montana communities we cover.
Great Falls sits within easy reach of Helena (72 miles), Belgrade (119 miles) and Bozeman (127 miles). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Great Falls; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
22,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Great Falls
How we calculated this
60,208 ÷ 2.5 = 24,083 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 22,000. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
1,850
Estimated dog and cat losses in Great Falls each year
How we calculated this
22,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 1,850 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.
If a number here surprises you, the primary material is American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science; we only apply it to this.
Why preservation means speaking up early in Montana
In Montana, about 73.4%[5] of people are cremated, so cremation is the default most families expect, for people and pets alike. That's why vets and emergency clinics tend to route deceased pets straight to a crematory. If you want to preserve your pet, you're choosing the less usual path here, so be clear and early: tell the clinic you want your pet frozen and held, not collected for cremation.
That Montana rate is a human one, published by Direct Cremate (citing CANA) (2024). We quote it for Great Falls only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
How Great Falls's climate affects the first hours
Winter storms in Great Falls can bring ice, fallen lines and days without power. If your pet is waiting in a freezer, keep the lid closed, pile blankets on top and find dry ice or a generator before the second day. A full chest freezer kept shut holds its cold far longer than an upright model, and a garage freezer in January gets some help from the weather.
Cold weather in Great Falls is actually easier for shipping a frozen pet. With average lows around 15°F in January, a well-packed cooler stays frozen longer in transit. The risk shifts to delays: snow can hold up carriers, so send early in the week, keep the tracking number close and ask the practitioner to confirm the moment the box arrives.
How much to budget for preservation
Pet preservation is priced by weight, method and pose, not by city, so what you'd pay from Great Falls depends mostly on your pet and the practitioner you choose. One US price guide quotes freeze-drying a cat or small dog at $1,000–$2,500[6] and traditional taxidermy at $800–$2,500[7]. Large dogs cost several thousand dollars more. The published prices below come from US price lists and cost guides.
The Montana price table breaks costs down by product; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
Free tool
Freeze-dry & taxidermy cost estimator
Estimate cost and waiting time for freeze-drying or taxidermy by size and pose.
Wildlife permits, shipping and local rules in Montana
Keeping a preserved pet you loved is legal almost everywhere, but selling or passing on some preserved species later can be restricted, especially birds and reptiles covered by wildlife-trade rules. Keep the practitioner's invoice, your pet's purchase or breeder records and any permits with the finished piece, so its origin is never in doubt. Remains you don't keep follow the Montana guidance below.
The official Montana local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Great Falls.
For Montana's rules on burying a pet at home or scattering ashes, see the Montana guide. Local rules in Great Falls can be stricter than the state's, especially in homeowners' associations and rentals.
What to do first if you might preserve your pet
- Tell your child what's happening in simple words before the freezer door closes, rather than leaving it as something unspoken in the kitchen.
- Double-bag a small pet and place them in a lidded tub, so they can't be squashed by frozen food.
- Let your child help pick a pose by looking through photos together: asleep in a curl, or upright the way they'd wait by the cage door.
- Explain the wait honestly: it will be months, and when their pet comes back they'll look like they're sleeping, not awake.
- Make a memory box together while you wait, with a drawing, the name card from the cage and a favorite photo.
- Agree where the finished piece will live, a place your child can look at whenever they like but won't be touching daily.
Remembering your pet while you wait
Some families wait until spring for a memorial, when the ground has thawed and relatives can make the drive. Share stories and photographs, plant something, or spend an hour together outdoors along the Missouri. There is no set timetable, and even a brief, informal gathering of family and neighbors on a mild afternoon can help everyone feel they have said a proper goodbye.
try the free planning tools, Every option Great Falls families choose between is on the services page, or look at how readers voted in our polls, go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles. You can also browse every city in the United States. Nearby, we also cover Helena, Billings, Butte-Silver Bow and Kalispell, and every city in Montana.
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.
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 your pet died today, could you freeze them properly within a few hours?
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
Is cremation common in Montana?
For people, yes: about 73.4%[5] of Montana deaths end in cremation, according to Direct Cremate (citing CANA) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Great Falls follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Great Falls?
January, February, March, April, 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 84°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Great Falls?
Usually yes. Helena is about 72 miles away, Belgrade is about 119 miles away and Bozeman is about 127 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Is Great Falls big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 22,000 Great Falls households keep a dog or cat and around 1,850 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 60,208), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
What if the power goes out while my pet is in the freezer?
Keep the freezer shut and cover it with blankets for insulation. US food-safety guidance says a full freezer holds its temperature for about two days and a half-full one about a day, if the door stays closed. If the outage will run longer, buy dry ice, handle it with gloves and place it on top, or move your pet to a freezer that has power.
What happens if something goes wrong during preservation?
Occasionally a practitioner finds damage once a pet thaws, often fur slipping because of a delay before freezing. A good one will call you, explain what they see and offer choices, such as switching to a partial piece or arranging cremation. Ask about this, and about refunds of the deposit, before you pay anything.
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] Montana had a 73.4% cremation rate in 2024, among the highest in the US. Direct Cremate (citing CANA), 2024.
- [6] 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.
- [7] Memorials.com puts traditional taxidermy at $800–$2,500 for a cat or small dog and $1,500–$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.
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