Grim Reaper Kitty...too bad the kitty isn't all black.

[[JiF]KellysHero]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290840,00.html
Oscar the Cat Predicts Nursing Home Deaths
Thursday , July 26, 2007



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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."

[[JiF]rIot]

Kitty, THATS MY POT PIE!

Seriously though, thats eerie...I would cringe every time the cat walked by the door...

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

I am going home and killing my cats

[Sir Die-a-lot]

I am going home and killing my cats

You that old ?

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

Define "that old" I am not as old Tissueman, but I heard he is afraid of cats

[[JiF]Lonewolf]

Cats are known for this and not just for people. It has been studied in the past that cats can tell when another animal is about to die including themselves. The study was done on several different types of cats such as house cats, mountain lions, bobcats and others with the same results.

[[JiF]KellysHero]

Cats are known for this and not just for people. It has been studied in the past that cats can tell when another animal is about to die including themselves. The study was done on several different types of cats such as house cats, mountain lions, bobcats and others with the same results.

That's because the cats were getting ready to kill that other animal...

[[JiF]Stepovich]

They've a sense for when you're sick too.
My wife has a cat- "Gunther" (don't laugh) who she calls Nurse-Gunther.
The only time he will stay on the bed with anyone is when they are ill.
He's done it to me...
Any other time, he won't go on the bed unless no one is on it.
It's weird.

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

Define "that old" I am not as old Tissueman, but I heard he is afraid of cats

Not afraid, but very allergic to cats. So allergic that I don't really like them at all. I worked with a woman who had 7 cats. I could hardly go into her office (back when we had offices). Please don't confuse not liking cats with hating them. I do NOT hate cats. I would never chase a cat up on someone's lawn with my car for instance. I just can't be around them for more than 20-30 minutes.

I'm not so worried about cats hanging around as I'm trying to figure out why those buzzards keep roosting on the bedposts.

Dogs don't know when you are going to die, but they always know if you have any food anywhere on your person.

I've heard that goldfish know when you are about to stub your toe, but their little shouts of "watch out" are dampened by the water and you never hear the warnings.

Pet birds, on the other hand, will let you know when there is a gas leak by pretending to play dead (only they actually will be dead).

I think that is about all the animal "wisdom" I have this AM. Going to Ludlow, MA today to see college buddies. So far I've seen both sides of my family, my wife's family, JiF'ers and will finish with college buddies. Tissuema'am came down with a virus so yesterday I got to do whatever I wanted. It was a nice SLOW day. Tomorrow it's off to the Lake Sunapee Art Show then heading home on Monday. I did pick up a LCD monitor (cheap) to replace the giant CRT taking up all of Tissuema'am's desk and an inexpensive laptop to replace her 10 year old PC. No sales tax in NH. I buy as much as I can here every trip.