Thinking about preserving your pet in Flower Mound?
By our estimate, about 29,500 households in Flower Mound 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.
- Freeze-drying, taxidermy or a partial keepsake
- Honest about waits and results
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Flower Mound, Texas
Preserving a pet from Flower Mound: the local picture
Some Flower Mound families wait until April, when wildflowers cover the mound and the roadsides, to hold a backyard remembrance where the urn sits among fresh flowers and friends gather. Others prefer the first cool weekend in October. Grief has no timetable. If sadness lingers, a counselor or a bereavement line can help, and children in particular benefit from being encouraged to talk about their feelings openly.
Flower Mound's neighborhoods are close-knit, and an absent face at the window or on the trail rarely goes unremarked. Letting neighbors know usually brings cards and kind words. Before the pickup, gather the whole household, children included, for a few quiet minutes. Holding a paw, saying a name aloud or tucking in a favorite toy gives everyone a simple way to part.
Plenty of households around Flower Mound already own a chest freezer for meat or garden produce. That's useful now. Clear a shelf or a corner, double-bag your pet with the air pressed out and keep them separate from food in their own bin or box. Set the freezer to its coldest and leave the lid shut, even when you'd like to look.
About 79,540 people live in Flower Mound, which makes it the 50th-largest of the 325 Texas communities we cover. Irving, roughly 16 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Flower Mound run from there.
Families in Flower Mound often end up using a provider from Southlake (6 miles), Grapevine (6 miles) and Westlake (6 miles). That is normal: crematories serve a radius, not a single town, and the drive is priced into collection.
Our estimate
29,500
Flower Mound: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
79,540 ÷ 2.5 = 31,816 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 29,500. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
2,450
Estimated dog and cat losses in Flower Mound each year
How we calculated this
29,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 2,450 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 Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry; we only apply it to this.
Aftercare traditions in Texas, and choosing to preserve
In Texas, about 55.7%[5] of people are cremated, with burial still common. That mix shows up in pet aftercare too, and preservation sits alongside both. Some families preserve a paw or tail and bury the rest in the garden; others freeze-dry their whole pet. There's no local custom telling you which is right, which leaves you free to choose.
For the Texas 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 Flower Mound rather than as pet data.
Keeping your pet frozen through Flower Mound's weather
Summer humidity in Flower Mound matters long after your pet comes home. Freeze-dried tissue can slowly take moisture back from damp air, which can soften features or invite pests. Keep a preserved pet in an air-conditioned room, away from bathrooms and exterior walls, and consider a sealed glass case. In August, run a dehumidifier if the room feels sticky.
Long hot spells across June, July, August and September strain home freezers in Flower Mound, especially ones sitting in a garage without air conditioning. A freezer working hard in a hot garage may not hold a steady deep freeze. Move your pet to an indoor freezer if you can, or put a cheap thermometer inside overnight; you want 0°F (−18°C) or colder.
What pet preservation costs in Flower Mound
Pet insurance rarely helps here. Standard policies generally don't cover aftercare, and end-of-life add-ons have low ceilings; one wellness add-on could reimburse up to $650[6] toward cremation, burial and keepsakes. Budget from savings, try our preservation cost estimator and ask whether the practitioner takes a deposit up front with the balance due before return shipping.
We keep the detailed Texas price table on one page so it stays current: see Texas prices.
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Permits, shipping and burial rules in Texas
Before you commit to preservation, check two things with the practitioner: whether your species needs any permit where they are, and whether they're allowed to receive it. Rules for domestic cats and dogs are light; rules for native birds and reptiles can be strict and vary by place. If the rest of your pet is going to be buried or cremated, check what Texas allows for home burial and scattering too.
To find your county or city office in Texas, start with the official Texas local government directory.
Start with the Texas rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Flower Mound's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
Your checklist, in the order it matters
- Tell your vet or clinic straight away that you're considering preservation, so your pet isn't sent for cremation with the day's collection.
- Lay your pet in a relaxed position while they're still limp: resting on one side with the legs tucked softly. Leave the coat unbrushed and unwashed.
- Double-bag them using two thick plastic bags, squeezing the air from each one before you close it.
- Put them in the coldest freezer available within a few hours, not the fridge. Leave them there and don't take them out to look.
- Take photos you already have and gather more: the face from different sides, the natural set of the ears, every marking. Your practitioner works from these.
- Choose a practitioner by their pet work, then get the price, deposit, return date and shipping plan in writing before anything leaves home.
Caring for the piece, and for the memories
With DFW Airport next door, many Flower Mound residents travel constantly for work, and a pet may die while a parent is away on a trip. That can bring guilt and a painful sense of missing out. Joining the farewell by phone, a saved collar or a spoonful of ashes set aside for them helps the absent person share in the farewell once they are home again.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, there are guides for the big decisions and articles for the details, run the numbers with the free planning tools, See what each option includes on our services page. More local pages: San Antonio, Austin, Houston and El Paso, the Texas 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.
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?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Questions people ask
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Flower Mound?
Usually yes. Southlake is about 6 miles away, Grapevine is about 6 miles away and Westlake 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.
Roughly how many pets die in Flower Mound each year?
Our estimate is around 2,450. It comes from Flower Mound's population (about 79,540), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 29,500 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
Does the Flower Mound climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In August, with highs near 96°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. Winters here are mild enough that burial or scattering is possible in any month.
Why does the Flower Mound page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) reports about 55.7%[5] of Texas residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Do I need a permit to have a wild bird preserved in the US?
Most native wild birds are protected under federal law, and possessing one, even a bird you found dead, can be illegal without a permit. Domestic and captive-bred birds, such as budgies, cockatiels, parrots, chickens and domestic pigeons, are generally outside those rules. If your bird is anything else, ask the practitioner and your state wildlife agency before you ship.
How many pets die in Flower Mound each year, and how many are preserved?
Our estimate for Flower Mound is roughly 2,450 dog and cat deaths a year, across about 29,500 homes with a dog or cat. Just a small fraction are preserved; one market report puts taxidermy at about 7%[8] of owners' choices, and many families end up with a partial keepsake instead. You won't be the first to ask, but your vet may not have been asked before.
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 Texas's cremation rate at 55.7% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Embrace's Wellness Rewards add-on could reimburse up to $650 toward cremation, burial and keepsakes. Pet Insurance Review - Does Pet Insurance Cover Euthanasia? (Dec 2023), 2023.
- [7] Freeze-drying a pet costs about 6 times as much as an average cremation. Our estimate: USD 1,500 (midpoint of USD 1,000–2,000) / USD 250. How we calculate.
- [8] About 7% of pet owners choose taxidermy, per Astute Analytica. Astute Analytica via GlobeNewswire — Global Pet Preservation Services Market to Hit USD 112.7 Million by 2032 (Apr 2, 2024), 2024.
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