Short answer: gather the photos and videos of your pet from everyone's phone, including the ones sent in family chats, and keep them together in one place with a few lines about who your pet was. Add the small things you want to keep, such as the collar or a favourite toy, and the stories: the habits, the funny moments, the day they came home.
Last updated: 3 November 2026. The practical advice on this page follows the Library of Congress and the help pages of WhatsApp and Google, checked on that day; the sources are at the bottom.
When a dog, a cat, a horse or a rabbit dies, the quiet in the home is often the hardest part. The memories are there, but they are spread out: a few hundred photos on one phone, the best video on someone else's, a story only your brother tells properly. This page is a gentle, practical way to bring them together, at your own pace.
What you might want to keep
- Photos and videos from everyone who knew your pet: family, friends, neighbours, the person who looked after them on holidays.
- The sounds: the bark at the door, the purring, the paws on the kitchen floor. Videos keep them.
- The stories and habits: the spot on the sofa, the stolen sock, the way they greeted each person.
- A few small things: the collar, the tag, a favourite toy, a lock of fur if that feels right.
Gathering the photos and videos
Start with your own phone and computer. Then ask the people around you, with a small request: "Could you send me your five favourite photos or videos of Max?" Many of the best ones were sent in family or friends' group chats. WhatsApp has an Export chat option that can include media, which is a way to save a whole chat with the photos in it. For a pet from your childhood, old prints can be photographed with a phone; Google's free PhotoScan app is made for that. If a print is faded, the free photo restore tool can repair it.
Ways to remember, side by side
| Way | Good for | Sound and video | Not the best choice when |
|---|---|---|---|
| A memory box | The collar, the toy, a printed photo, a card | No | You want to share it with people who live elsewhere |
| A printed photo book or framed photo | Something to look at every day or give to someone | No | The videos and sounds are what you most want to keep |
| A shared album (for example in Google Photos) | Quickly collecting photos from several people | Videos yes; little room for stories | You want the stories next to the photos, or control over who has the link |
| A folder on your computer | Simply keeping the files safe | Yes, as files | You want others to add their memories |
| The Memory Palace | A private room with photos, videos, voice notes and stories together | Yes | You want a public memorial page, or something physical |
Write the stories down
Photos show what your pet looked like. Stories show who they were. Take ten minutes and write down what you do not want to forget: how they came into your life, their habits, the time they did something nobody could believe. Ask others for one story each. If writing is hard, record a voice note instead. With children, let them say it in their own words and write it down exactly as they said it.
Keep the files safe
Phones get lost, replaced or reset. Copy the photos and videos to a computer or a cloud service, give the files a clear name with your pet's name and the year, and keep at least two copies in different places. The Library of Congress gives that same advice for digital photos.
The Memory Palace, honestly
The Memory Palace is your own 3D memory palace: you hang photos, voice recordings, videos and written stories in rooms you walk through. For a pet, that can be one quiet room: the photos, the videos with the sounds you miss, and the stories next to them. It is private by default. You can invite family and friends into the room and choose whether they can only view or also add, or send a collect link so they can add a photo, a written memory or a voice note from the browser, without an account.
- Everything in one room. Not spread over four phones and three chats.
- The sounds stay. Videos and voice notes sit next to the photos.
- You can leave with everything. A full ZIP export on every plan, including the free plan with 1 GB, with a page that opens without internet.
What it lacks: it is not a public memorial page, and it does not make physical keepsakes or prints. It does not collect photos from phones automatically; someone still has to add them. It is encrypted in transit and at rest, but not end-to-end. And it is made by a small team in Leuven, Belgium.
A gentle way to start
Choose ten photos and one video. Write one sentence under each photo. Ask one person who loved your pet for their favourite story. That is enough for today. The rest can come later, when it feels right.
If you would like a quiet room for your pet, you can start a palace and invite the people who knew them.
Read on: digital memory box ideas, organising phone photos into memories, why voice memos capture memories so well, and all guides on your own memories.
Sources
- WhatsApp Help Center, how to export your chat history (Export chat, with or without media): faq.whatsapp.com/1180414079177245
- Google Photos Help, scan photos with PhotoScan: support.google.com/photos/answer/7177983?hl=en
- Google Photos Help, share albums (anyone with the link can view and add): support.google.com/photos/answer/6131416
- Library of Congress, Personal Digital Archiving, digital photos (at least two copies in different places; check them once a year; descriptive file names; tag people and subjects): digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/photos.html