Cryopets
Emergency guidance
If your pet has died or is close to dying, call us. If euthanasia is planned and you can wait until we arrive on-site, that is ideal. If not, directly after death, cool them the right way for their preservation plan.
Call emergency · +1 (833) CRYOPET / 279-6738For critical condition or recent death only. Time matters.
Right now
Two things matter most: reach our team, and start the correct cooling for your plan.
- 01
Call the emergency line
Tell us what happened and which plan your pet is on. We will guide the next minutes. If a vet is involved, note the time of clinical death when you can.
- 02
Start cooling while you are on the phone
Do not wait for us to arrive or call back. Use the Standard / Advanced or Basic instructions below. Do not cremate or bury.
Choose your plan path
The right cooling method depends on whether we still need open blood vessels for cryoprotectant perfusion (Standard / Advanced) or whether this is Basic Preservation.
Standard (VM-1) and Advanced (M22) replace blood with cryoprotectant so tissue can vitrify with far less ice damage. That only works if vessels are still open, so do not put your pet in a freezer or pack them in dry ice unless our team tells you the case has converted to Basic.
- Best: Place your pet in a refrigerator (not a freezer) as soon as possible.
- If they will not fit: Use a tub or basin with ice water. Ice floating in water cools faster than ice packs alone. Keep ice present the whole time.
- Protect from soaking: Use a waterproof bag or barrier so the body stays cool without sitting unprotected in meltwater when possible.
- After they are thoroughly chilled (fridge or ice-water temperature): You can maintain cooling with bagged ice or ice packs in a cooler while we arrange ambulance SST or transport.
- Ambulance SST (Standard / Advanced): When included, we come to you or near your veterinary clinic to stabilize, cool, and perfuse before transport to our Texas facility. Call so we can dispatch.
- Already in a freezer? Leave them frozen and call us. Freezing damages vessels, so perfusion usually cannot proceed. We may need to continue as Basic.
Basic is traditional freezing without cryoprotectant perfusion. Ice will form. It is the path used when vitrification is not possible, or when a pet is already frozen before we can intervene. For Basic, freezing promptly is the goal, not avoiding it.
- Call us, then cool as soon as you can.
- If you have dry ice: Pack your pet in a watertight bag inside a well-insulated cooler surrounded by dry ice (about two inches of dry ice on all sides). Keep the cooler topped up; do not let them rewarm.
- If you do not have dry ice yet: Place your pet in a watertight bag in a household freezer while you arrange dry ice and shipping with our team.
- Once frozen, stay frozen. Do not thaw and refreeze.
- Shipping: Basic typically uses shipping rather than ambulance SST. We will give you packing and courier instructions after you call. Do not ship until we confirm readiness and payment arrangements.
If death is expected soon
- Call Member Care or Emergency as soon as you can, so we can prepare standby and supplies.
- Talk with your veterinarian about timing. For Standard and Advanced, coordinating so our team (or rapid cooling) begins right after clinical death improves outcomes.
- Have a cooler, heavy-duty bags, and ice ready. For Basic, identify a dry-ice source in advance (welding suppliers, some grocery / specialty shops).
- For Standard and Advanced: plan refrigerator space or a tub for ice water, not a freezer.
