Sunday, February 7, 2010

Insightful and Comforting Cat

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.

Dr David Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor at Brown University, said that five years of records showed Oscar rarely erring, sometimes proving medical staff at the New England nursing home wrong in their predictions over which patients were close to death.

The cat, now five and generally unsociable, was adopted as a kitten at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Providence, Rhode Island, which specialises in caring for people with severe dementia.

The tortoiseshell and white cat spends its days pacing from room to room, rarely spending any time with patients except those with just hours to live.

If kept outside the room of a dying patient, Oscar will scratch on the door trying to get in.

When nurses once placed the cat on the bed of a patient they thought close to death, Oscar "charged out" and went to sit beside someone in another room. The cat's judgement was better than that of the nurses: the second patient died that evening, while the first lived for two more days.

Dr Dosa and other staff are so confident in Oscar's accuracy that they will alert family members when the cat jumps on to a bed and stretches out beside its occupant.

Full Article and Source:
Cat Predicts 50 Deaths in RI Nursing Home

9 comments:

  1. I've seen that or a similar story before, and it's absolutely amazing.

    One thing I know about cats: when they're sick, they will stay in places other than their usual locations. And they are so stoic, that you don't know when they are in pain.

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  2. Very interesting. I knew pets were therapeutic but had no idea they knew death.

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  3. Thank God the cat's not a probate attorney. (I'm sorry...couldn't help myself.)

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  4. Sweet! I saw this story about Oscar in the tv news. I am not at all surprised to see the "unknown" mysteries as an animal lover with pets since I was a small child some pets have extra senses and they can pick up on / smell when there are medical problems including impending death. I think this is a heartwarming story and when my times I would welcome Oscar or someother other critter to keep me company during the transition period between earth and eternity.

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  5. Oh Joe Citizen BINGO you are so right on, thanks for the reminder of reality, those lurking vultures just waiting for the opportunity, the reality of the..... DARK SIDE!

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  6. Animals often have more insight and compassion than humans.

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  7. Applause to this facility for bringing an animal in to give the residents comfort.

    What a cat, huh?

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