Before Christmas

we adopt a little black cat

with yellow eyes.

Within a few days

he starts sneezing

and has a runny nose.

I take him to a vet

and he gets a little better, then worse. 

Another trip to the vet

and then he stops eating.

My son loves him so much.

I put tuna in his mouth

and use a medicine dropper

to give him milk

to try to keep him alive.

Early one morning

his yowling wakes me.

He is freezing and can’t stand.

I put him on a heating pad

then we go to an emergency vet.

There is nothing they can do

and we’ll have to euthanize.

They offer us a room

where we can say goodbye.
My son cries, stroking the cat 
and I cry watching him.
The cat dies there
on his own.