Pets usher in Day of the Dead, are remembered with photos, toys and treats

For most of Leila Palacios’s life — through breakups, failed tests and arguments with her older brothers — Kai was there to lick her tears and cuddle.

Kai, Palacios’s cat, died last month after suffering from cancer. But by setting up an altar in her family’s living room — with mementos like the bear costume Kai liked to wear, his chicken- and beef-flavored treats and the orange brush he enjoyed being groomed with — Palacios hopes to feel Kai’s presence again on Monday.