Oscar the cat predicts patients' deaths

[x635 4,066]

This cat better stay away from me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oscar the cat predicts patients' deaths

By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer

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."

___

Science writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

New England Journal of Medicine: http://content.nejm.org/

[xfirefighter484x 234]

My girlfriend just read this and is now fearing her own cat!!!!

[HFD750 6]

That's freaking me out!! I just adopted a kitten...

[Guest seanc]

im quite scared now, my cat who barely comes near me just laid down next to me...fair well cruel world

[stephen morea 1]

thank God I have a dog!!!!!!!

[DOC22 1]

The closest thing to a pet is the landlord's dog upstairs, but no cats.

[JetPhoto 626]

Meow

[RescueKujo 130]

Seems to prove the old addage that the only good cat is a dead one....

[JBE 328]

I'll stick with the waterbugs since I don't like cats, and we aren't allowed to own a dog. Although if I see a waterbug, it will die long before I do.

[ckroll 101]

If a very large python curls up next to you, it is also a sign of impending death.

[Remember585 815]

If a very large python curls up next to you, it is also a sign of impending death.

[RescueKujo 130]

If a very large python curls up next to you, it is also a sign of impending death.

Or they just want to steal your warmth. But being cold blooded, they will never curl up next to a woman, because there is nothing more cold blooded than a woman.

[Skooter92 7]

I'd check the cat's pockets as he leaves the room. Wonder how he got all those really cool kitty toys.....?

[Guest paramedico987]

Here's a question... Can they go ahead and call for a bus ahead of time based on the cat's prediction, or would that not be covered by medicare?

[RescueKujo 130]

Here's a question... Can they go ahead and call for a bus ahead of time based on the cat's prediction, or would that not be covered by medicare?

It all depends on how the guys on the bus word their patient care report. But does it matter whether Medicare or Medicaid will pay?? We'll send a bus anyways, because gawd forbid you don't....