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morgram |
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Post subject: Oscar the Cat Predicts Patients' Deaths
 Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 02:40 AM
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 PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.
"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
"Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.
The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.
After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.
Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.
Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill
She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near.
Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.
Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.
Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa's article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying.
If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it's also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person, Dodman said.
Nursing home staffers aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying.
Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his "compassionate hospice care." |
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"Leave the starship commanding to Bill because he already knows how to do it better than anybody else!" -morgram
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 02:47 AM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
Posts: 8167
Location: CA
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| Cats have always smelled Death.... |
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Cuzsis |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 02:50 AM
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I'd wager smell changes mostly, and a difference in subtle reactions to the world around.
And warm blankets, puh! The computer printer and monitor will be much warmer at the least. And there are heating vents. |
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Joe |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 05:47 AM
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| littlestar wrote: | | Cats have always smelled Death.... |
Kind of creepy, make a good Stephan King story, how one night the cat curls up on the night nurses lap....  |
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Cuzsis |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 06:00 AM
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| Joe wrote: | | littlestar wrote: | | Cats have always smelled Death.... |
Kind of creepy, make a good Stephan King story, how one night the cat curls up on the night nurses lap.... |
Ah! Geeze! Don't do that!  |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 06:11 AM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
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| Cuzsis wrote: | | Joe wrote: | | littlestar wrote: | | Cats have always smelled Death.... |
Kind of creepy, make a good Stephan King story, how one night the cat curls up on the night nurses lap.... |
Ah! Geeze! Don't do that! |
I knew when I saw it that pic would come in handy. |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 26, 2007 - 09:52 AM
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Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 5199
Location: standing here shaking my head in disbelief....
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Cats see and smell things we can't......
That's why when your cat acts funny, you know, bushing up his tail and staring into space, you should worry, there's something there...... |
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When you try to make others look small, you only show how truly tiny your own spirit is.
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 05:32 AM
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Joined: Feb 22, 2006
Posts: 1410
Location: Most likely not where you are!
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Cats... dogs... they both have a sixth sense about them... Cats however seem to use it more intelligently.
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 06:00 AM
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Joined: Nov 13, 2002
Posts: 20774
Location: The Netherlands
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It's my experience MOST animals have a sixth sence.
Remember how they sence danger before anyone else, earthquake's .... floods...fires.
Sure some are as dumb as can be as well, but I remember our budgy when I fell ill during pregnancy.
He refused to leave the bedpost during 2 weeks, had to be fed by hand while he watched me.
Once the fever had broke he returned to his cage.
Instict or just smart, let's be thankful for our animals ! |
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Cuzsis |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 07:21 AM
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| Cat wrote: | Cats see and smell things we can't......
That's why when your cat acts funny, you know, bushing up his tail and staring into space, you should worry, there's something there...... |
Tonight?
Mothra attacked!
...was knocked down by the cat, played with, and finally eaten by the puppy...
Yum! Moth!  |
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Seamus |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 01:27 PM
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Joined: Feb 22, 2006
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Location: Most likely not where you are!
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It... it... it was... horrible... the bright lights... the sedation... the snipping...
DAMN THAT VETERINARIAN AND HIS NEUTERING!!!! |
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ChuckD |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 05:44 PM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
Posts: 6435
Location: Southwestern Connecticut, U.S.A Heroes: Bjorn Of Borg, and Bill, of course.
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| Great! Now I'm going to have to worry the next time a cat snuggles up to me! |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 05:49 PM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
Posts: 9000
Location: "It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem."~ G.K.C
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| ChuckD wrote: | | Great! Now I'm going to have to worry the next time a cat snuggles up to me! |
That's when he walks by   |
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ChuckD |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 05:54 PM
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Location: Southwestern Connecticut, U.S.A Heroes: Bjorn Of Borg, and Bill, of course.
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True Cat Story:
There was some movie or TV show that was about a cat that would suck the life breath out of you while you slept.
A few days later I awoke in the middle of the night to find my (late) cat Andy with his kisser up to mine.
I almost had a heart attack until I realized he was probably just hungry and sniffing around at my breath.  |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 27, 2007 - 05:59 PM
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Joined: Feb 12, 2005
Posts: 9896
Location: I destroy my enemy when I make him my friend.--Abraham Lincoln
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A year ago, when I was having heart problems, my kitty would insist on getting on my chest if I were sitting at my computer (I learned to type with one hand during that time).
When I went to bed, the kitty would lay across my back, over the place where my heart was.
When I stopped having troubles, the cat still snuggled, but not to the extent of when I was having problems.
Gooooo Kitties Everywhere!!!!! |
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