Name: leo bautista
E-mail: Private
Date posted: March 10, 2010 - 12:38 pm
Message: dear mr.dosa and oscar, i really love your new book. i got it out of the library. wich i can't put down. i read your book every night. before going to sleep. we have two dogs and cat. the cat was droped off in 94 when we lived in new england eastern ct. we still have the cat until this day. his name is tigger. does oscar live at the nursing fulltime. does he go home with mr.dosa and his family. iam thinking of buying your book. with my chore money.

sincerely

leo bautista

hdbautista1@yahoo.com

Name: Eric Overton
E-mail: overton@dillotronics.com
Date posted: March 08, 2010 - 09:30 pm
Message: In 2002 my cat Juliet suffered from kidney failure. On her first trip to the emergency clinic, her body temperature had dropped to 93 degrees and I was told she probably wouldn't live the night. This was the first of many nights I slept on the clinic floor with my head in her cage. If she was willing to keep fighting, I wasn't going to quit on her, either.

Six months later I was diagnosed with late stage malignant melanoma / clear cell sarcoma. My one year survival odds were about 8%.

Nothing is quite so comforting when you've taken a 10MM unit / m^2 blast of interferon as being able to drag yourself home and curl up with your cat. There was more than one occasion where I just felt like saying, "Let me die now and get this over with." But it was clear that there was a cat who wasn't about to let me quit. I got the message loud and clear that if she could fight, I could fight. And had I not got that, I wouldn't be typing this message almost eight years later with no recurrence of disease.

Juliet passed away peacefully in 2004, once she knew her job of getting me well was done. Her great-grandson Dudley is stretched out across my forearms as I type this.

Name: Cecile Hannaway
E-mail: channaway05@aol.com
Date posted: March 08, 2010 - 09:49 am
Message: I purchased this book for my daughter who is a surgeon and cat lover. I was born and raised in RI and got my nursing training at RI Hospital so that made me even more interested in Dr. Dosa. I had to read the book before giving it to her and I've never cried after reading a book but this one brought tears to my eyes and much thought about the love that animals share with people. I am a widow and have 2 cats and it's amazing how sensitive they are to how my day is going. When I'm feeling down or sick they are right by my side and as soon as I lay down in bed they are right there snuggled to me until I get up. I had often thought that they sensed my feelings but this book has made me realize even more how much cats are intuitive about their surroundings. These quiet little creatures that sometimes appear to sleep all day are just waiting with one eye shut and one open watching your every move. Thank you Dr. Dosa for helping me realize how special my 2 friends are but most of all allowing me to reflect on the compassion that is needed for the people involved at such a difficult time in their lives.

Name: Kerry Wallis
E-mail: typeright@tpg.com.au
Date posted: March 07, 2010 - 10:35 pm
Message: When I was a child we had a cute little fox terrier named "Snowy". He was quite an independent little dog who loved to be around us kids but not picked up or played with. However when I would get into trouble from my parents (waaayyyyy tooo often to count) I would go and sit on our back steps and feel sorry for myself. At those times Snowy would come up and sit tight up against me - hip to hip. If I were upset enough to be crying he would reach over and lick my tears away.

Many years later when he was an old dog he was on daily medication (I do not really know what the tablets were for) and it was my job to give him the tablet each day. I remember so clearly the day I gave him his tablet and as I was doing so he died in my arms.

Name: Christy Cornell
E-mail: Private
Date posted: March 06, 2010 - 10:48 am
Message: Dr Dosa- I'm reading your book with immense interest. My pet therapy dog Mr Bear does EXACTLY the same thing as Oscar (chapter 4)after he has visited the children. If we see the CV-ICU or really sick kids, he sleeps for HOURS after we come home but if the children are in the orthoped floor or general area and not that ill, he has no trouble bouncing back from the hospital visit. I've noticed it for 4 years. The sicker the child, the longer it takes him to "shake" it off. I think he carries the thought of the illness with him. Amazing - I'd wondered about other pet therapy animals - and now I know Oscar was the same! Someone should write a paper on it alone...truly fascinating.