Choosing a pet memorial stone in Conway
By our count, roughly 940 Conway families lose a dog or cat every year. A memorial stone is one of the few decisions with no deadline, so here's what to know before you order.
- Wording that fits a small stone
- Flush, raised or with an ashes compartment
- No pressure: a stone can wait until you're ready
Conway, South Carolina
Stone makers, yards and delivery in Conway
Humidity, heat and floodwater make life difficult for outdoor memorials in Conway. Soft stone grows mildew, and resin loses its color. Granite or bronze will last, but place it well above ground that floods, especially on lots near the river, because the Waccamaw can stay high for a week or more after heavy rain falls upstream in North Carolina, long after skies clear. A raised bed or a low brick base can help.
Conway households often have cousins, siblings and grown children scattered across both Carolinas and beyond. Crematories can divide ashes among several little containers, so one relative keeps a tiny urn while another wears a pendant. Tell the crematory how many shares you want ahead of time, and ask about engraving so the pieces are ready when the family gathers at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Space is rarely the problem around Conway. Larger lots mean more families bury their pets at home, often under a favorite tree or at the edge of a field. On open land, choose a flush granite marker or a heavy natural stone that a mower, tractor or curious livestock won't move, and note the spot on a sketch in case the ground changes.
Conway's population is around 30,627, the 19th-largest of the 29 South Carolina communities we cover.
Conway sits within easy reach of Myrtle Beach (13 miles), North Myrtle Beach (20 miles) and Florence (49 miles). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Conway; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
11,500
How many dog- or cat-owning households Conway has (estimate)
How we calculated this
30,627 ÷ 2.5 = 12,251 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 11,500. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
940
Conway families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
11,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 940 a year. A floor, not a ceiling.
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.
The published sources behind those figures are Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
How local customs shape pet memorials
With about 56.1%[5] of people in South Carolina cremated, local monument companies still make plenty of headstones, which is good news for pet owners. Their skills and equipment are right there, and many will take on a small pet marker. Ask one that makes human memorials locally; they'll know which granites cope with the local winters.
That South Carolina rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Conway only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
Conway weather and your pet's stone
Before you set a stone, watch the spot for a week at different times of day. A place in deep shade stays damp and grows moss; one in full afternoon sun makes a photo etching hard to read and heats dark granite. A spot with morning sun and afternoon shade suits most stones and most visits.
What a pet memorial stone costs in Conway
Pet memorial stones cover a wide price range in the US, and the material matters more than the size. Engraved garden stones start at ~$39[6] across three US sellers, while flat granite markers start from $157.95[7] and upright granite headstones run $258–$628[8]. The table shows published prices you can use to judge any quote from a maker serving Conway.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for South Carolina: South Carolina costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Permissions worth checking in South Carolina
Pet cemeteries in South Carolina each set their own marker rules: size, material, whether upright stones are allowed and who installs them. Human cemeteries generally don't accept pets. If you plan a cemetery stone, get the rules sheet first. For a home memorial, here's what we know about burial and scattering locally.
Not sure which office covers Conway? The South Carolina local government directory is the official list.
Start with the South Carolina rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Conway's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
What to do first, and what can wait
- Let your child help choose the spot. A place they can get to by themselves, or look at from their bedroom, tends to mean more to a child than any adult would guess.
- Start with a stone they decorate themselves. Outdoor paint pens on a smooth river rock give small hands something to do in the first raw days.
- Ask them for one word or line to include. Years on, it's usually the child's own phrase that the whole family holds dearest.
- Show them the proof before you approve it, and give them the job of reading the pet's name aloud one letter at a time.
- Keep the homemade stone beside the engraved one, or bring it indoors to a shelf once the permanent marker is set.
- Give each child a job on the day: carrying the stone, placing pebbles around it or watering a new plant. More ideas are in our guides.
Remembering your pet beside the stone
Conway's historic homes and live oaks suggest classic remembrance: a cedar or oak urn on the sideboard, a plaster pawprint, or a marker under a moss-hung oak. Students and renters around the university often prefer compact urns or jewelry that moves easily between leases. Choose the spot first, and the right piece usually becomes obvious once you picture it there.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, look through our guides and the blog, The services page is the place to compare what is included, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures. Close to Conway we also cover Mount Pleasant, Columbia, North Charleston and Charleston; the full list for South Carolina and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
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Which stone would you choose for your pet's marker?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Memorial stone planner
Plan size, material and engraving length so your wording fits the stone.
Memorial tree finder
Pick a tree for a planting urn that suits your climate, space and pet.
Questions people ask
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Conway?
Usually yes. Myrtle Beach is about 13 miles away, North Myrtle Beach is about 20 miles away and Florence is about 49 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 Conway each year?
Our estimate is around 940. It comes from Conway's population (about 30,627), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 11,500 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
Why does the Conway 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 56.1%[5] of South Carolina residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Can I bury my pet in my backyard in Conway and put a stone on it?
In many places you can bury a pet on land you own, with rules about depth and distance from water, but cities and homeowners' associations can be stricter. Check the local notes on this page and your HOA rules. A stone marking the grave rarely needs any permission of its own once the burial itself is allowed.
Is a memorial stone a good idea if my pet was cremated?
Yes, and cremation gives you more freedom. The stone can sit over a small portion of buried ashes, hold ashes in a sealed compartment or simply mark a favorite spot, and there's no grave to settle, so you can set it straight away. You can also keep most of the ashes indoors and bury just a spoonful.
What do people usually engrave on a pet memorial stone?
Most choose the pet's name and years, plus one short line: a nickname, a place they loved or a phrase the family always said. A paw print or small outline is a popular alternative to words. Read the wording out loud, check the spelling with someone else and keep it short enough to read from the path.
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 South Carolina's cremation rate at 56.1% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Engraved pet garden stones start at about $39 at the median of three US sellers. Our estimate: median of starting prices [$38 Adirondack, $38.95 Memorials.com, $89.99 Comfort Co.]. How we calculate.
- [7] Flat granite pet grave markers at Memorials.com start at $157.95. Memorials.com – Pet Memorial Stones, 2026.
- [8] Upright granite pet headstones at Memorials.com run $257.95–$627.95. Memorials.com – Pet Memorial Stones, 2026.
- [9] Opening and closing the grave makes up 33–47% of a whole-body pet burial at a natural burial ground. Our estimate: $250/$750 (small) to $450/$950 (large). How we calculate.
Price a pet memorial stone in Conway
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.