The narration is also very good-hard to 'put down,' so to speak. I highly recommend this title to people of all interests. It's a great story if you are interested in amazing animals. It's a very well balanced book-not overwhelmingly depressing, but very touching.

Beside the tough topics of death, aging and illness, the author manages to put in some lighthearted anecdotes which lift the mood when appropriate. It's written in a very personal tone, and I think that really adds to the already extraordinary story of Oscar. Dosa has for all the people (and animals :) ) in the book.

It encompasses a wide variety of topics and does so in a manner that gives the reader a feeling for the amount of respect which Dr. I learned about people's experiences with death and dying as well as their experiences with aging. Throughout the story, I learned about a lot more than a really neat cat, although that was my initial reason for reading this is the first place. Dosa's writing deals with both in a very sensitive and touching manner. Heartfelt, inspiring and sometimes even funny, it allows readers into a world rarely seen from the outside and often misunderstood.ĭeath and aging are often difficult topics to breach, and hard to write about in a manner that is both sensitive, yet lighthearted. Dosa expands his story, using the cat and the stories of several patients to examine end-of-life care as it exists today. David Dosa, an attending physician at Steere House, wrote about Oscar in the New England Journal of Medicine, the response was tremendous, with coverage everywhere from Today to People to CNN. Oscar is highly regarded by the physicians and staff at Steere House and by the families of the residents whom he serves because he provides companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone. His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death – a blessing, really, because it allows staff members to notify families that the end is near. Adopted by staff members at Steere House nursing home when he was a kitten, the three year-old cat has presided over the deaths of more than twenty-five nursing home residents thus far. An otherwise ordinary cat-he'd sooner give you his back or a sideways glance than curl up on your lap-Oscar has the uncanny ability to predict when people are about to die.

Making Rounds with Oscar by David Dosa