BARRINGTON — Barrington resident Dr. David Dosa, 37, has written a book entitled “Making Rounds with Oscar.” Oscar looks like an ordinary cat, but the feline has shown an extraordinary ability to predict when residents at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center are close to death. Dr. Dosa, a geriatrician, works at the Steere House and is also a health services researcher at Brown University. According to Dr. Dosa, Oscar spends very little time with the residents of Steere House until they are approaching the last hours of life, then he maintains a vigil at the bedside, offering feline comfort to patients and caregivers. The book is about Oscar, but it is also about the challenges of caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. Dr. Dosa’s book tells the story of several patients who were under his care at Steere House and the interactions between himself and the residents, their families, the staff, and Oscar. Oscar’s ability received international media attention after Dr. Dosa wrote an article published by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007.

Dr. Dosa has lived in Barrington for seven years with his wife, Dionne, and their two children, Ethan, 5, and Emma, 3.

Discovering Oscar: “Over a year it became more and more apparent to us. When patients were terminal Oscar would be there. He would be sitting at the foot of the bed at the patient’s legs or on the windowsill above the patient, sometimes.”

Oscar in action: “I think the moment that really got all of us talking; there were two patients dying and we all thought one would go first. By that time Oscar had a bit of a streak going on. An aide said, ‘Oscar should be here’ and brought Oscar to the other patient. The cat looked around like everybody was crazy — and hightailed it back to the other bed. And Oscar was right; the other patient rebounded.”

In the book: “The other thing I tried to do in the book is give people a sense of how are decisions made; maybe a little of how doctors think about end-of-life-care related to dementia, and then of course there’s Oscar. Oscar’s kind of the glue that holds the book together.”

Story’s out: “Originally I wrote an essay about it in the New England Journal of Medicine — it was in the back of my head and I wrote it up. After that everybody was sort of talking about this cat. Jay Leno made jokes. The BBC wrote a headline; ‘If Oscar’s on your Head, you’re Dead.’ ”

How does Oscar do it? “Oscar has lived on this unit all his life, so this is his home, these are his family. I think he’s probably patterning behavior — it’s obvious when someone’s not doing well we ramp up what we do for them — but there’s probably some kind of pheromone or smell that he can perceive that we can’t. People talk about the smell of death, the sweet smell. When cells die they release ketones, and it smells very sweet. And then there’s the idea that animals can know more than we can.”

World War II medic: “I had a World War II medic write to me. By the end of the war he knew which patients to pick up and which ones (were beyond saving) by the smell.”

Alzheimer’s epidemic: “The statistics are very powerful and we have a major problem on our hands with our aging population. One in eight people now are developing dementia over the age of 65.”

Spare time: “Spending time with my family. I love playing soccer with my son. I like reading and I like writing and traveling. We keep it simple right now because of our young one; we go to a place she can travel. We go to Martha’s Vineyard each year.”

Pets: “Not right now, although my kids are asking for a dog or a cat every day. Right now we have to settle for two fish and a hermit crab. When things settle down and my daughter grows up a little bit there will be a pet in the house. I think it’s important for people to have pets, I think it does good for people on so many levels.”

Traveling: “In the near future we would like to do more traveling. Growing up we didn’t have a lot of money, but we traveled. When I was in medical school I worked in a free clinic in New Delhi, India, and that was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Growing up in the Unites States you get so spoiled. This idea of being able to see how the other half lives was so important.”

Lunch with anyone: “It would probably be someone in the distant past. Today the answer would be President Obama, because I’d love 20 minutes to tell him how broken the health care system is, and how desperately we need measurable health care reform that will insure everyone but not short-change older adults in the process.”