Embalming Shortcuts : Cats On The Coffin

          Throughout my career in the funeral industry, I was always amazed by some of the practices that were so generally accepted, especially in the embalming room. I have always been an advocate for saving money and being thrifty, especially when it comes to business expenses. However, for some funeral home owners, that idea is taken too far sometimes.

          I remember a couple of my first embalming cases, where the deceased had undergone an autopsy. For the uninitiated, a full and complete autopsy includes the medical examiner removing all internal organs for inspection. Once the autopsy is completed, the medical examiner's office places the internal organs (viscera) in a plastic bag, places the bag into the upper cavity of the body and closes the Y-incision with a few far-spaced ligatures.

          Once the body is back at the funeral home, the ligatures are removed, the Y-incision is opened and the viscera bag is removed. The embalmer will treat the internal organs with some type of embalming chemicals. The proper way is to soak the internal organs in a high-index, concentrated cavity solution. Many firms slice the organs into smaller sections to allow for better absorption, while others choose not to. Once the organs have had time to soak, the cavity fluid is drained and one of two methods are used. The viscera is returned to the body cavity, either in the original bag or without. I always preferred not using the bag method, to decrease the chances of fluid leaking. Returning the organs to the body cavity, combined with using a generous amount of embalming powder, provides the best possible results.

          Embalming powder can become expensive, but is well worth the price for proper results. However,  there are a number of funeral home owners, managers and funeral directors who have developed cost-saving methods that are disturbing. One that I found particularly troublesome was the use of cat litter instead of embalming powder. Sure, cat litter is designed to be absorbent, yet it offers nothing in terms of preservation. And, families that choose embalming are paying for embalming -- not cat litter. Once I learned of the litter method, I often imagined walking into a funeral home and finding cats gathered around a casket.