Pet taxidermy and freeze-dry options for Irving, Texas
Irving has an estimated 94,500 dog- or cat-owning households, by our count. Very few local vets handle a preservation request often, so this page walks you through the freezing, shipping and waiting yourself.
- Clear steps for the first few hours
- Shipping frozen, explained plainly
- No pressure, we reply by email
Irving, Texas
Where Irving owners find freezer space and practitioners
Some Irving families mark a loss by sitting beside Lake Carolyn as the lights come on in Las Colinas, lighting a candle at home, or giving to a North Texas animal rescue in their pet's name. Others wait until the anniversary. There is no single correct way. If grief is affecting sleep or work weeks later, talking with a counselor is a sensible step.
In Irving, families say goodbye in many ways: at home in an apartment with friends from work or their faith community, or in a quiet room at the vet clinic. Different faiths and cultures bring different rituals, from prayers and incense to candles and flowers. Tell the provider what matters to you at first contact, so collection and cremation can be arranged around it.
If your vet in Irving can't hold your pet frozen, a larger centre such as Dallas may have an emergency hospital with more freezer space. Call before you drive. Carry your pet wrapped in a cooler with ice packs or bagged ice, keep the car cool and go straight there, because every warm hour matters for the fur.
Irving's population is around 257,076, the 12th-largest of the 325 Texas communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Dallas, about 9 miles (15 km) away, which is where some providers serving Irving are based.
If you want to compare providers, look at Euless (8 miles), Farmers Branch (9 miles) and Dallas (9 miles, a larger centre). Distance matters because pickup fees and the time until the ashes come back both grow with the drive.
Our estimate
94,500
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Irving
How we calculated this
257,076 ÷ 2.5 = 102,830 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 94,500. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
7,900
dog and cat deaths per year in Irving, our estimate
How we calculated this
94,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 7,900 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.
Where these figures come from: American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
What local cremation habits mean for your request
About 55.7%[5] of people in Texas choose cremation. Attitudes are shifting, and that openness extends to pets, where families increasingly want something personal rather than the standard option. Preservation is the most personal of all, and still unusual. Expect to explain what you want to your vet more than once, and to find the practitioner yourself.
That Texas rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Irving only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
How Irving's climate affects the first hours
In August, when Irving highs sit near 96°F, even the walk from the car to the clinic door warms a pet's body. Carry them in a cooler rather than in your arms, park in shade and keep the air conditioning running. A pet who died of heatstroke is already very hot inside, so press ice packs against the belly and chest to cool them quickly before freezing.
Hot months in Irving bring storms and heavy demand on the power grid, and a freezer that loses power can undo everything. If an outage hits, keep the freezer lid shut, cover it with blankets for insulation and buy dry ice if the power will be off for more than a day. A full chest freezer stays frozen far longer than a half-empty upright one.
Preservation prices beside other aftercare
The simplest guide is weight. One published US price list charges USD 650[6] for a pet under a pound, $2,095 plus $49 a pound for pets of 6 to 19 lb, and $2,781 plus $69 a pound above 20 lb[7]. On our reading of that list, a 10 lb cat comes to about USD 2,291–2,585[8]. Other studios charge less, and some more.
The Texas 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.
What Texas rules mean for a preserved pet
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 Texas guidance below.
Not sure which office covers Irving? The Texas local government directory is the official list.
The Texas page sets out who oversees pet cremation and what the state says about burial and scattering. Irving's own bylaws can sit on top of that, so ask before you dig.
Your checklist, in the order it matters
- Freeze first, decide later. Once your pet is frozen and stays that way, taking a few weeks to choose does no harm.
- 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. Know where you'd get dry ice or a backup freezer if the electricity went off for more 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, early in the week if shipping, and ask for confirmation the moment your pet arrives.
Remembering your pet while you wait
Many Irving residents moved from other states or countries and live far from family, which can make losing a pet especially lonely, particularly if the animal made the move with you. An animal's death can hurt as much as any other loss. Let a friend, neighbor or coworker know what has happened, talk to your vet, and look for pet-loss support groups in the Dallas–Fort Worth area or online.
run the numbers with the free planning tools, Our services overview lays out every option side by side, or see how other readers answered in our polls, there are guides for the big decisions and articles for the details. More local pages: Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston, 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.
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 were preserving your pet, which route would you lean toward?
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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
Where are the providers that serve Irving actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Dallas, about 9 miles away. That is normal for a city this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Irving and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
How many pet owners live in Irving?
By our estimate, about 94,500 households in Irving have at least one dog or cat, and around 7,900 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 257,076, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Irving?
There is no frozen-ground season here; average lows stay above freezing all year. The other pressure point is August, when highs around 96°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Is cremation common in Texas?
For people, yes: about 55.7%[5] of Texas deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Irving follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
How much does it cost to freeze-dry a pet from Irving?
US guides put freeze-drying a cat or small dog at $1,000–$2,500[10], and traditional taxidermy at $800–$2,500[11]. Weight makes a big difference: one studio lists USD 650[6] for a pet under a pound and $2,781 plus $69 a pound for dogs over 20 lb[7]. Add bases, posing and shipping both ways, and ask for a written total.
Is freeze-drying or taxidermy better for my pet?
Neither is better in general. Freeze-drying keeps your pet's actual body and suits sleeping or lying poses; it takes longer and is more sensitive to humidity. Taxidermy fits tanned skin over a sculpted form, allows sitting or alert poses and depends heavily on the artist's sculpting. Freeze-drying is the more common choice, at 62.3%[12] of the market by one industry estimate.
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] One U.S. pet preservation studio charges USD 650 to freeze-dry a pet under 1 lb, with a 4–6 month turnaround. Animal Family Pet — Pet Preservation Pricing & Shipping, 2026.
- [7] An Ohio pet preservation studio prices freeze-drying for pets over 20 lb at $2,781 plus $69 per pound, and 6–19 lb pets at $2,095 plus $49 per pound. Animal Family Pet Preservation – Pricing, 2026.
- [8] Freeze-drying a 10 lb cat at one published price list would cost about USD 2,290–2,590. Our estimate: Low: 2,095 + 49 x (10-6) lb; High: 2,095 + 49 x 10 lb. 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.
- [10] 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.
- [11] 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.
- [12] Freeze-drying accounted for 62.3% of the pet preservation services market. Astute Analytica via GlobeNewswire — Global Pet Preservation Services Market to Hit USD 112.7 Million by 2032 (Apr 2, 2024), 2023.
Tell us about your pet and what you'd like kept
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.