LJWorld.com

There wasn't a funeral for Cayenne, the tortoiseshell tabby who graced Love Garden Sounds for 14 years.

Instead, in the moments before she was to put to sleep Tuesday afternoon, store employees came to the animal hospital to pay their final respects. Store co-owner Kory Willis and his wife, Katie Conrad, then sat by while the veterinarian administered the final injection.

And on Wednesday night, the couple had a few friends and colleagues over to their house, to hold a wake of sorts.

"We're going to get together, have some pictures of her, get together and hang out," Willis said beforehand.

The death of a pet is usually a private tragedy. But this city gets some of its funkiness from the animals that live in downtown shops among customers, books, albums and cash registers.

So word of Cayenne's death spread quickly along Massachusetts Street this week, and Willis found himself taking condolences from the employees and owners of other shops.

"I've been astounded," Willis said Wednesday afternoon. "It's been 24 hours, and I'm amazed at how many people know. She was very popular."

Cayenne was Love Garden's second cat. Willis picked her up in 1991 from a friend who didn't want to handle the high-spirited feline.

"Cayenne was such a spaz that she was driving the other cats crazy," Willis said. "So he asked if we could bring her up there, and everybody just fell in love with her."

Cayenne, the tortoiseshell tabby who lived at Love Garden Sounds for 14 years, died Tuesday.

Cayenne was "extremely sweet," Willis said. "She loved to jump on things, including people's backs. We had a regular customer who was kind of gruff. He came in one day looking through new arrivals, and Cayenne just jumped up on his back. Even he had to smile."

The tabby went through a patch of rough health in 1998, spending a couple of weeks in an animal hospital while fighting kidney problems.

"She pulled through," Willis said. "It just came back last week."

The shop was a little quieter on Wednesday.

"It's pretty sad," Willis said. "When you come in here in the morning -- I open five days a week -- she was the first cat who would greet you. It was pretty sad to come in this morning and have her not be here."

There is some circle-of-life good news in all of this. Willis and Conrad have a friend who will compost Cayenne's body; they'll use the compost to plant catnip in their yard.

Three cats remain at Love Garden, though two are on medications for diabetes. Jack, the first and oldest, is still going strong. Customers will still find themselves contending with fur balls as they browse for the obscure audio gems.

Soon, there might even be four fur balls again.

"We stopped at four (cats); that's where we capped it," Willis said. "After our period of mourning, we can find a new one."

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