Yes, send them. Good pet sympathy flowers are a small arrangement in soft colors, delivered to your friend's home in the first few days, with a card that uses the pet's name. For a kitchen counter or a side table, a Designer's Choice in the Classic or Deluxe size is about right. If another cat or dog still lives in the house, add a line at checkout. Delivery is priced by area. Enter your ZIP for the current delivery charge.
Sending flowers when the loss is a dog or cat
Sympathy flowers are right for a pet, too. A house changes when a dog dies. The bowl is still by the back door, and nobody comes to the window when the car pulls in.
Flowers tell your friend you noticed, and that you knew this was family. When a pet dies, the timing matters about as much as the arrangement. Our sympathy guide says of home deliveries that flowers arriving a few days later "show up during the quiet, difficult days when the crowds have gone home," and that holds for a pet too. A day or two after the vet visit is a good moment. Anywhere in the first week or two, you are still on time. If your friend marks the date a year on, our note on flowers for the anniversary of a death suggests a smaller arrangement timed for the day itself.
Plenty of our orders come from farther away, and the emails keep you posted wherever you are. You get one when the order is placed, another when it is out for delivery and one more once it has been delivered.
Size and color for one household and one pet
Designer's Choice leaves the design to the studio. You choose the size, and the designer makes a one of a kind arrangement from what is freshest in the studio that day. The sizes run from Classic through Deluxe, Elegant and Luxe to Grand. For one household and one pet, Classic or Deluxe sits on a counter without taking over the room. Compare the size options on the product page with the spot where you picture it sitting. If the card is from a whole office, or from the neighbors who all knew the dog from the morning walk, Elegant carries a little more weight. If you have a figure in mind, Designer's Choice Custom Budget works the other way round. "Tell us your budget and the occasion, and our designer will build something for it."
The sympathy guide says white "feels serene and respectful," and pale pastels and soft green can feel just as right. A pet gives you something more personal to work with. Warm honey and cream for a yellow Lab. Smoky gray and white for a tabby who slept in the same patch of sun every afternoon. Put the colors in the checkout note.
You will know before your friend does. The designer sends you a photo of the finished arrangement before it leaves the studio.
If another animal still lives in the house
Many homes that lose one animal still have another, and a curious cat may well investigate something new on the counter. Some common cut flowers and houseplants are harmful to cats and dogs. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals keeps a searchable list of toxic and non-toxic plants, which it describes as plants "reported as having systemic effects on animals and/or intense effects on the gastrointestinal tract."
On the ordering side, the Designer's Choice page says, "If you have a color palette or flowers you'd love (or want to avoid), leave us a note at checkout and we'll design around it." So use that note. Mention that a cat or dog lives in the home, and list anything you already know you want left out. The note is a request to the designer, so check the list yourself, and tell your friend in the card or a text to keep it out of the animals' reach. If the animals at home are your main concern, ask the studio before you order. The phone number and email are at the foot of every page.
What goes on the card, and how it gets to the door
The card field holds up to 300 characters, and the FAQ says, "The card contains your words, nothing else: no branding, no promotional language." Sign your name. A grieving friend should know at a glance who was thinking of them.
The best pet sympathy messages use the animal's name and one true detail. Something like "Thinking of you and missing Biscuit. The street is quieter without her at the gate. Love, Sam." For a cat, "Mabel was lucky to have you, and you were lucky to have her. Here if you want to talk, any time." Two sentences will do.
Address the order to your friend by full name at the home address. We always try calling or texting first to say we are on the way. If nobody answers, we look for a safe, shaded spot, such as a covered porch or a neighbor, and leave a note or send a text so they know where to find the flowers. We never leave them in direct sun. If your friend may be slow to the door or would rather not answer it, say so in the delivery instructions at checkout and name a drop-off spot. The delivered email tells you it got there.
Jennifer Lower's review is about this kind of order. "We had a friends beloved pet pass unexpectedly," she wrote, and "...the flowers were well received without hassle it was nice to know we could swiftly send our condolences with this gorgeous arrangement."
We do not deliver on Sundays. We deliver throughout the Triangle, to Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Durham, Chapel Hill and RTP. Every arrangement is made at our Raleigh studio and delivered by our own team.
If your friend has gone back to work, send it to the office. Mark the address as commercial at checkout and include the suite number or floor. Some owners also want to thank the clinic that cared for their animal at the end. Flowers for a veterinarian go the same way, with the clinic's name, a commercial address and the suite. Address that card to the whole team.
Designer's Choice in Classic or Deluxe is a simple place to start, and the Thinking of You collection has finished designs to browse. Mention any animals at home in the checkout note. The pet's name belongs on the card, where your friend will see it first.