Pet Memorial Tattoo in Zürich — when your animal is no longer here

Of all the tattoos we do at the studio, memorial pieces for pets who have passed are the ones I write about most carefully. Not because they’re harder to tattoo — but because what sits behind them doesn’t fit the usual words of a tattoo article. I’m Aroa, founder of Sinkply, and although pet portraits are Jon’s specialty, I wanted to write this one myself. Because it isn’t about technique. It’s about how you carry loss when the loss had four legs and a name.

We’ll be honest about things most people don’t say out loud: that grief for an animal is often not taken seriously. That the question “when is the right time?” rarely has a simple answer. That it’s okay to want a tattoo while your animal is still alive. And that it’s just as okay to wait ten years with the decision.

There’s no schedule

The first thing I tell people who reach out after a loss: there’s no schedule. Some come to the studio two weeks after their animal has died, others two years later, some ten. None of those decisions is more wrong than any other. We never push. We don’t ask why now and not earlier. A memorial tattoo is a personal ritual, and the timing is part of the ritual — not something anyone gets to prescribe from the outside.

What we do see: the acute phase right after the loss is often not the right one. In the first days the pain is too raw, the images too loud, the decisions too loaded. Someone booking a tattoo in the first week is sometimes booking against the pain rather than for the memory — and a tattoo is meant to be there for the memory, not against the emptiness. My recommendation is to let at least two to four weeks pass before you commit to a date. You can send us the photos before that. We set the appointment when you’re ready.

When your animal is still alive

This sounds strange at first, but: the best memorial tattoos often come together while the animal is still here. Not because you should anticipate their death — but because a portrait you celebrate with your living animal has a different quality. And because the photos you take in these last months become priceless.

If your dog is getting old, if your cat is in her later years, if you feel time getting shorter — take the photos now. Not later. The eyes often change in the last weeks. The gaze gets tireder, the fur thinner. Earlier pictures carry the expression you want to remember. Send us those photos. We archive them. If you want a tattoo in two months, in a year, in five years — the photos are there.

Some of our clients get the portrait done while their animal is still with them. They show it to their dog, to their cat. It sounds sentimental, but it’s often unbelievably beautiful. A tattoo the animal itself could still “see”.

What happens if we’re already in the process and your pet passes

This happens regularly. We begin the design, Jon sends the first draft, and in the window between draft and appointment the animal dies. That’s one of the most common moments we get called into. What we do in that situation:

We continue with the photos you already sent us. You don’t need to send anything new, don’t need to explain, don’t need to justify. If you want to keep the appointment, we keep it. If you want to postpone, we postpone — free of charge, as often as you need. If you want to reshape the piece into a memorial at short notice — adding a name, a date, a small symbol — we do that at no extra cost. The tattoo belongs to you, not to the calendar.

A sentence I often say: “You decide what you need. We adapt.”

The one photo you keep forever

Something many people feel after losing an animal: regret over not having taken “enough” photos. The phone is full, but none of the images feels like the right one. If that’s you, three things that help:

1. You only need one good photo. Not ten, not fifty. One photo where the eyes are sharp and the expression looks like your animal is enough. Jon can reconstruct the body, the ears, the neck position from other pictures, even imperfect ones. The eyes are what count.

2. Videos work as source material. If you don’t have any sharp stills but you have videos — that’s often the save. A short clip contains dozens of frames, and we usually find one where the animal looks directly into the camera. Send us the video via WhatsApp.

3. Old photos work too. We’ve tattooed pet portraits from 15-year-old photos, digitised from Polaroids, paper prints, faded snapshots. As long as the expression is recognisable, we can work with it.

Portrait, name, or both

One of the first decisions in a memorial process: is a name, a date, a small symbol enough — or do you want the whole face? Both paths work, and we advise without bias. Briefly, the typical options:

Name or date only. A discreet piece of lettering on the forearm, the collarbone, the wrist. Your animal’s name in soft handwriting, sometimes with a small heart or cross. Between CHF 180 and CHF 280. Good when you want something very quiet, private, just for you. No one asks, and you don’t owe anyone an explanation.

Portrait only, no text. The animal in their expression, without additional information. The person seeing the tattoo might recognise a specific dog or cat — or just a generic animal. For you, it’s your animal. Starting at CHF 650.

Portrait plus name or date. The most common request for memorial work. The face carries the memory; the name or date is the anchor detail that makes the story concrete. We usually place the lettering small and offset — not as a subtitle, but as an integral part of the composition.

Portrait plus symbol. A collar, a ribbon, a paw print, a halo. Small symbolic elements that signal: this animal is no longer here. We keep it tender, never kitschy. If the classic halo feels too much, we find alternatives — a light aura, a date used as a guiding star, a knotted ribbon.

Multiple animals in one piece

Many people have had several animals across their lives. A dog who grew up with you. The next dog, who “replaced” him but was actually something completely different. The cat who outlived both dogs by ten years. We regularly tattoo memorial pieces that unite two or three animals.

Technically we do that as a coherent composition — not as three separate portraits side by side. The animals “sit” together in one image, sometimes with a connecting element (a landscape, a tree, an abstract fur field). That makes a story rather than a list. Jon often works with a shared background that turns the animals into a single emotional piece.

Placement — close to the heart or visible

Where should the memorial tattoo live? That’s a more intimate question than it sounds. A few guidelines clients find helpful:

• Close to the heart: chest, inner upper arm, ribs. For people who want the tattoo private, felt, cover-able. The tattoo sits on the skin like an inner memory.
• Visible: forearm, wrist, shoulder blade. For people who want to see it, be reminded daily, talk about it. An open memorial.
• Personally hidden: side of the thigh, back, hip. For people who want to carry the memory but not show it. The tattoo is there, always, but only for you.

There’s no right choice. We advise based on what fits you — not based on what’s trending.

What the day of the session looks like

We know a memorial appointment is different from a “regular” tattoo booking. The atmosphere in the studio is quieter that day. We often deliberately block more time so nothing becomes rushed. You come in, have a coffee with us, we look at the photos together once more, and only when you’re ready do we start with the stencil. If you cry when you see the final design — that’s okay. It happens often. We have tissues at the studio, and no one pretends this is just another afternoon.

While tattooing you can talk or stay silent. Some clients tell stories during the session — what their animal loved, how they slept, their little habits. Others say nothing for three hours. Both are completely fine. If you want to bring a support person to sit with you, we make that possible too, as long as Jon can stay focused.

The emotional side afterwards

The moment the Second Skin bandage is on and you look in the mirror is often intense. Some clients describe a feeling as if someone opened a small window to the past. Others feel a calm they haven’t felt since the loss. Still others feel nothing at first — and only days later, when the bandage comes off, does the emotional weight settle in.

There’s no right way to experience it. Grief isn’t linear, and memorial tattoos are part of that. Sometimes you look at your tattoo two months later and think: “That was exactly right.” Sometimes you think: “I’m not there yet.” Both are part of the process.

If you’re still unsure

If you’re reading this because your animal has just gone, or because you sense it will soon, and you’re unsure whether a tattoo is the right thing — just message us. No commitment, no appointment, no deposit. Send the photos you have. Tell us one sentence about your animal. We’ll answer. Maybe you decide tomorrow. Maybe in a year. Both are okay.

Our full guide to pet portraits in Zürich explains the practical flow, sizes and prices. Everything else — the question of whether, and when — finds its own way.

WhatsApp: +41 77 212 07 67. Studio at Staffelstrasse 8, 8045 Zürich. Mon — Sat, 9:30 — 18:30. For memorial pieces we reply faster than for regular enquiries; just say in your first line that it’s about a memorial tattoo. — Aroa