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It would appear that my cat had smelled or sensed her impending demise and found whatever it was to be extremely unpleasant. The doctor advises worried family members to simply be present for their loved ones. Richards was at her mother's bedside nonstop as she died. After three days, a nurse persuaded her to go home for a brief rest. Her mother died a short while later.But she didn't die alone.
When he senses a person is dying, he jumps on their bed and settles down to keep vigil until the undertakers collect the body. Watching my own mother pass away from cancer and seeing how her dog interacted with her I believe that Oscar has that special gift too...the gift to comfort someone in the darkest of times. We all must die alone but with an animal lying by your side, purring or just snuggling I truly believe it brings comfort not only to the person who is passing on but those who are there with them. The author starts off not believing that a cat could be capable of showing this kind of knowledge or empathy and by researching he finds it to be true. This book gives me hope and less fear of death since I have 4 pets.
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The book describes Oscar’s daily routine, how he spends his time pacing from room to room at the nursing home, rarely spending time with patients who have still got a fighting chance of survival. Instead, he picks out certain patients and cuddles up next to them . These are often the ones who will pass away in a short time. If kept outside the room of a dying patient, he will scratch at the door, trying to get in. A cat with an uncanny ability to detect when nursing home patients are about to die has proven itself in around 50 cases by curling up with them in their final hours, according to a new book.
Memory care residents assisted primarily with bottle-feeding duties and general socialization, and the benefits were immediately apparent. At the facility, someone is around 24 hours a day, which is essential when caring for very young kittens, who need to be fed regularly every few hours. The residents also got the chance to rekindle some of their most natural instincts.
Cat predicts 50 deaths in RI nursing home
Since the program began, Rebecca has heard from many people who want to start similar programs in their communities. She pointed out that a strong partnership with a rescue organization is essential — but even more important than that is buy-in from the nursing home staff. Because very young kittens require 24-hour care, the staff also takes on part of the responsibility of caring for them. The normally elusive Oscar says hello to the camera.Nursing home staff sees the cat’s presence at a patient’s bedside as an almost certain harbinger of the grim reaper. More than anything, this book should spark family discussions about end of life care, especially if dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s, becomes part of your world. I had to get up, go find my wife and talk to her about what I had read.
Oscar was adopted by the medical staff as a kitten and his home ever since has been on the third floor of the nursing home, with the dementia patients. The facility has over 200 residents, and many of them have suffered strokes and brain injuries, or are too old to care for their own pets. She resides on the main floor, and while she isn't allowed upstairs into any bedrooms, her presence is evident to all. I bring this up because some might say that Oscar’s wonderful story undercuts human exceptionalism. There is no doubt that Oscar appears to be showing empathy.
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He brought up some serious issues in his own life, including a chronic health condition, but then left them as loose ends, making me wonder why he brought them up in the first place. Dr. Dosa started the book by admitting that he is not a cat person, but that he wanted to understand more about how Oscar knew to do what he did. Aside from that initial curiosity, there was no real understanding of why he was so interested, nor any major conclusions revealed through his experience. Although technically a dog person, I love all animals, and anyone who spends any amount of time with them would not be at all surprised by Oscar's gift. I wish the book had focused more specifically on the patients' families perspectives on Oscar rather than the doctor's.Finally, the book went on for too long.
It seems I am in the minority here, but I thought this book was just okay. It was billed as a story about a cat's ability to sense when dementia patients in a nursing home were approaching death and his dedication to remaining with them during their final hours. The real focus of the book, however, was on Dr. Dosa's experience treating his patients with dementia. That subject is certainly important and interesting, but the approach of revealing almost the entire story through dialogue between himself and the nursing staff and/or family members of the patients wore thin after a while.
Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Oscar made international headlines in 2007 after the New England Journal of Medicine published an article about him by Steere House geriatrician Dr. David Dosa. Joan Teno, a physician at Steere House, clarified that "it's not that the cat is consistently there first. But the cat always does manage to make an appearance, and it always seems to be in the last two hours." Photography Courtesy Karen Hollish/Pima Animal Care Center.The benefits for the kittens are manifold as well.
There was also a dog, that got to stay with his master till the end. I loved the stories of the residents of Steere House, especially the Rubensteins. After reading, I've visited the website of Steere House to know more about Oscar and he has his own page on the website. It's a beautiful cat who gives the necessary comfort in leaving the earthly world.
She spent alot of time at her bay window looking at the birds. The daughter mentioned it was nice to have it, and I replied I moved it just for her mother. These were the cool things I got to do-get back to the bedside some, without the nursing as such.
Dr. Dosa was initially skeptical about Oscar's ability, but once he became convinced, he decided to interview the families that Oscar had comforted as they lost a loved one. This book is primarily about the stories behind the patients in the dementia/Alzheimer's units and how their family members dealt with losing a parent or spouse to dementia. This book is a very easy read; I read it in two days. Dr. Dosa, not a cat expert, becomes more and more captivated the longer he watches Oscar. He decides to interview the relatives/caregivers of some of the people Oscar sat vigil for in hopes of gaining insight into the feline’s secret. It is clear from these interviews that Oscar made a hugely positive impression on these people.
She has more than a decade of experience writing about everything from health care and books to yoga and spicy food. Angela lives near Kansas City, Mo., with her husband, son and three cats. — The scientist in Dr. David Dosa was skeptical when first told that Oscar, an aloof cat kept by a nursing home, regularly predicted patients’ deaths by snuggling alongside them in their final hours. While that description might lead you to think it is a depressing book, it surprisingly is not. The author has an easy-to-read style and conveys his points using true anecdotes from his geriatric practice. I imagine that this might be a very difficult book for someone currently dealing with a family member suffering from dementia, as it very clearly states that there are ultimately no long-term positive outcomes to be expected.
Perhaps I'm too late in this response, but I'd say 14 and up. The reading level isn't the issue - it's not challenging. But there is talk of conjugal visits in the nursing home, and the reality of dementia can be disturbing even to adults. And that's what this book is about - it's not a cute cat book (look for Dewey, if that's what you're interested in). Frankly, unless a teen is considering a health care career, or has a family member with dementia, I doubt they'd find this book very interesting. Dr. Jill Goldman, a certified animal behaviorist in California, has a different theory – that Oscar’s predictions might be a learned behavior.
Dosa’s observations led him to write this moving story about the residents, caregivers, and Oscar. I thought it was a really interesting book, and pretty moving at times. It wasn’t really amazing writing, but the subject is one that’s close to home for me, and I appreciated that the author talked to a bunch of different families about their experiences with Oscar. Several of the people that he talked to referred to Oscar as their “angel,” and said that he was there to help escort their loved one to death, and also to comfort the surviving family. Newcasters too often being drama makers, referred to the cat as being the harbringer of death.
He once feared that families would be horrified by the furry grim reaper, especially after Dosa made Oscar famous in a 2007 essay in the New England Journal of Medicine. Instead, he says many caregivers consider Oscar a comforting presence, and some have praised him in newspaper death notices and eulogies. To have cats, as resident pets, I think is a great policy. Oscar, and pals-too bad they were not mentioned more, was amazing and caring.
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