Cat Urn Sizing: Do Maine Coons Need “Dog” Urns?

After a Maine Coon dies, a practical question can hit hard: maine coon urn size. Your cat may have looked more like a small wildcat than a “normal” house cat, so it’s natural to wonder: do maine coons need dog urn?

Urn shopping isn’t a test you can fail. It’s a few small choices you can make with steady rules. And you’re not alone in making cremation decisions—cremation is now the majority choice for many U.S. families. The National Funeral Directors Association projects a U.S. cremation rate of 63.4% for 2025, and the Cremation Association of North America reports a U.S. cremation rate of 61.8% in 2024.

The label on the page matters less than the number inside the urn

Online, urns are often grouped as “dog” or “cat” because it helps people browse. But those labels are mostly about style—paw prints, silhouettes, figurines—not capacity. A Maine Coon doesn’t “upgrade” into a different species category. Your decision is about cubic inches.

If you want a calm place to start, Funeral.com’s pet urns for cats collection keeps the styles cat-focused, while the broader pet cremation urns collection helps you compare sizes across many designs. And if your cat had a signature posture you’d love to capture, the pet figurine cremation urns collection can feel especially personal.

Capacity, cremains volume, and why “dimensions” can be confusing

If you’re in the middle of cat urn sizing and searching how to choose cat urn size, here’s the anchor point: urns are sized by interior capacity, usually listed in cubic inches. That number is the foundation of any pet urn capacity guide. Two urns can look similar but hold different amounts depending on shape, wall thickness, and whether the design includes a photo compartment.

This is why cat cremation urn dimensions can feel misleading. Exterior dimensions tell you whether it will fit on a shelf or in a display space. Capacity tells you whether it will hold the remains. You often need both, but capacity is the one that prevents the stressful “it doesn’t fit” moment.

The pet urn size rule most families use

A common pet urn size rule is to plan about one cubic inch of capacity for each pound of your cat’s pre-cremation weight. Funeral.com explains this approach in the cat urn size guide and in the broader guide to pet urns for ashes.

It’s a starting point, not a perfect formula, because cat cremains volume comes mostly from bone. Big-framed cats can produce a little more, and the inner bag used by many crematories can take up space. That’s why “round up” is often the calm choice.

So what size urn does a Maine Coon usually need?

Maine Coons vary, but breed information gives you a realistic range. The International Cat Association (TICA) notes mature males commonly around 13–18 pounds and females around 9–13 pounds, while the Cat Fanciers’ Association notes mature males can reach or exceed 20 pounds. That’s why many Maine Coon families land between “typical cat” sizing and what some sites label “small dog.” If you find yourself browsing for a large cat urn, you’re usually just looking for a little more capacity, not a different kind of memorial.

If you want a simple way to estimate without overthinking it, here are three grounded examples using “weight as baseline, then round up”:

• About 13 pounds: start around 13 cubic inches; 15–18 can feel forgiving.
• About 18 pounds: start around 18 cubic inches; 20–25 often feels comfortable.
• About 22+ pounds: start around 22 cubic inches; 25–30 can be reassuring if weight is uncertain.

In shopping terms, many Maine Coons fit well in Funeral.com’s small cremation urns for pets category (often under 25 cubic inches). If your cat was especially large—or if you simply want extra room—stepping up a size is a practical choice, not a mistake.

If you’re between sizes, “bigger” is usually the safer kind of calm

Most sizing stress happens in the in-between: “around 17 pounds,” “not sure what his last healthy weight was,” or “the urn I love looks narrow.” In those cases, an oversized urn for cat is rarely a problem. A too-small urn becomes a problem immediately. If you’re torn, choose the next size up.

That extra room can also matter if you’d like to keep a collar or tag nearby, or if you plan to keep the cremains in the sealed inner bag for spill prevention rather than transferring loose remains.

Keepsakes and jewelry: sharing ashes without turning it into a project

Sometimes the sizing question is really a family question: who will keep the urn, and how will everyone else feel? The National Funeral Directors Association reports that among people who prefer cremation, many would prefer their remains be kept in an urn at home, and some would prefer their cremated remains be split among relatives. That same “together vs. shared” tension shows up in pet loss too.

This is where keepsake urn splitting ashes can help. You can choose a main urn as the “home base,” then share a small portion with one or two people who need something tangible. Funeral.com’s pet keepsake cremation urns are designed for that, and the Journal guide on sharing ashes with small pet memorials offers ideas that feel complete, not “too tiny to matter.”

If someone wants something wearable, cremation jewelry holds a symbolic amount of ashes and can provide everyday comfort. Funeral.com explains what to expect in Cremation Jewelry 101, and you can browse pet cremation jewelry or cremation necklaces for classic styles.

Some families find it helpful to see the same options on the human side, too. The “one main urn plus shared keepsakes” approach is common with cremation urns: a primary cremation urns for ashes, plus keepsake urns or small cremation urns for sharing. The sizing language stays the same—capacity first, then style.

Keeping ashes at home and planning what comes next

For many families, the first plan is simply keeping ashes at home—sometimes for weeks, sometimes much longer. The practical question is whether your setup is safe and stable in real life: kids, other pets, cleaning days, moving days. Funeral.com’s practical safety guide is written for those everyday concerns.

Over time, some families decide their plan includes a place outside the home. When the location is water, people often use the phrase water burial. For human cremains in U.S. ocean waters, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains the federal “burial at sea” requirements, including reporting the burial to the EPA within 30 days. Funeral.com’s guide to water burial and burial at sea planning walks through how families handle the practical details (like distance, wind, and containers) in real life.

And if your question has widened to what to do with ashes—for a pet, a person, or both—that’s where funeral planning becomes a form of care. Funeral.com’s funeral planning guide for 2026 offers a calm framework, including how to write down an “ashes plan” so your family doesn’t have to guess.

Cost can be part of that wider conversation, too. If you’ve been searching how much does cremation cost, Funeral.com’s 2025 guide breaks down common fees. For a national benchmark, NFDA reports a 2023 national median cost of $6,280 for a funeral with cremation (including viewing and service), which you can review on the NFDA statistics page.

FAQs about Maine Coon urn sizing and memorial options