The latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 357, Number 4) contains a short article about Oscar, a cat that seems to possess the ability to predict when people are about to die. Oscar's home is the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, so he has many chances to be around dying people. When patients are about to die, he curls up next to them and happily sleeps there, until they're dead. Then he quietly exits the room. Most of the time the dying patients are so sick they don't even know he's there. The article in the NEJM states:
Since he was adopted by staff members as a kitten, Oscar the Cat has had an uncanny ability to predict when residents are about to die. Thus far, he has presided over the deaths of more than 25 residents on the third floor of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island. His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death, allowing staff members to adequately notify families. Oscar has also provided companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone. For his work, he is highly regarded by the physicians and staff at Steere House and by the families of the residents whom he serves.
Oscar is a cute cat, but my first thought was whether Oscar could somehow be causing or hastening the deaths of the patients, though I can't imagine how this could be. An
Associated Press article raises some other possibilities:
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.
Normally I'm happy if a cat curls up with me, but in Oscar's case, I would be a little concerned. (Thanks, Big Gary)
Comments
That's putting the cart before the horse (looking for a way to explain a "phenomenon" which might not even exist).
Sounds like confirmation bias to me.
The cat NEVER sleeps next to a person who didn't die while he was sleeping next to them?
Of these "more than 25", were they all as described where the cat didn't leave the person's side until the person had died, or were some of them a case where he slept next to someone who died in the next few days? If so, given the population, if he were randomly selecting a person to sleep next to, what are the odds for his hit rate?
"That's it Oscar...you just keeeep walking there. Just keep on moving right past me..."
I saw him in a documentary recently
Thing is my wife had that documentary on video
from long before we got married.
If he's still alive he can't have long left.
She seemed to know when things were amiss with one of the family members, she even attacked my mother once when she was going to beat me for something bad I'd done...
I miss her :(
I saw him in a documentary recently
Thing is my wife had that documentary on video
from long before we got married.
If he's still alive he can't have long left."
Here's a theory- he's actually absorbing their life-forces in a vampiric quest to become immortal.
"We've known cases where animals can tell when an earthquake was about to happen, or before the big tsunami, animals ran off to higher ground."
Do you know of one scientifically documented case where animals have detected a natural disaster before it happens? I think you'll find that is an urban myth.
"so this cat probably picks up some wavelength outside of our known band"
Humans have the ability to detect frequencies from 0 to Gamma-rays using their senses and modern technology. That would include sound waves, radio waves, visible, infrared and ultraviolet light as well as X-rays. So if Oscar can detect anything, so can humans. If there is something else outside this range, that would be a major scientific discovery that has eluded thousands of scientists and engineers for 100 years. This of course assumes dead people emit some different kind of electromagnetic waves when they are close to death, which seems unlikely.
Maybe Oscar's owner should apply for the James Randi $1,000,000 Paranormal Challenge.
Seemingly killing people.
Cuts costs I suppose.
1. Re: "what the hell is a cat doing in a medical facility? from Megan in Tampa Florida" .......
Megan as you are well aware Dogs and other animals have long been established as "good" etc. for healing and calming purposes to both the sick and elderly...in a dementia/alzheimers unit don't you think that is a good thing for people that can sometimes be horribly scared and "out-of-touch" and "trapped" in their own minds? ie: a calming loving cat...? The answer Megan is yes.
2. Cats and all animals do not engage in the "vibes" humans put out ie: greed, envy, and a host of others generally........there are some exceptions to that. The point is that they are therefore emotionally "unencumbered and are therefore more in touch with things and vibes that we as humans do not pick up on. The fact that Oscar picks up on them passing away is not surprising at all rather it is to be expected of these creatures of God who,... apparently has been commissioned by "the big guy" to do his little part on earth here. There's probably a really cool Disney story here somewhere like in a past life Oscar was maybe a really screwed up human or something so....to pay pennance for that, God has relegated him to serve humans for 1 lifetime - as an animal-before being given another "human" existence on earth ie: his next reincarnation. Buy it.......open up your mind and know that these things and the way God works are far to complicated for you to ever, ever, ever understand. Cheers. Peace and love.
If so this cat is just trying to stay warm and cozy. Nothing mystical here.
Or if we want to die of old age, we should always carry a stuffed cat's foot on our keychains.
Or if we want to figure out which of multiple ideas or options we should choose, we can write each of them down on a piece of paper and place them in comfy kitty beds covered in catnip. Like a game of musical chairs, as the cat relaxes in each spot, the bed, and the idea, are eliminated from further consideration. This is scientifically proven to work, and will stand up to even the most basic common sense.
1. Everything has a reason.
2. The only thing different about the kitty beds are the ideas on the scraps of paper.
3. There is no other reason for a cat to choose a particular bed other than what makes then different.
4. Also, Etheric Vibrations.
QED
I love cats and all, have 3, but if that little bastard came near me I'd crap myself.
But cats & dogs are still ANIMALS. People can easily clean themselves & take precautions to not shed too much of their skin & hair cells all over the place. Dogs & cats can't do that. In fact, they probably do all they can to shed as much as possible by scratching/licking/cleaning themselves.
To hell with "theraputic" uses for cats & dogs. They're still nasty dirty things & don't belong in a hospital - even if it is just a nursing home for old peopl.
I thought the previous one's name was oscar too
but it was the medical facility that I remembered most.
They have a lot of cats there and not all the patients are happy about it.
(I'm pretty sure the name was Oscar though, maybe this one is the son or something)
Possibly the body's thermoregulation also fails and the change in skin temperature attracts Oscar to curl up.
I can visually notice signs of the shutting down process in my cats, up to 24 hours before it happens (or I use the signs as guidance for euthanasia) so it's not surprising that a cat can detect signs of death in other species.
The explanation is very mundane in spite of the media proclaiming it to be psychic. The question isn't that Oscar is able to detect this, but why he is attracted to it.
The ability to discern somethign as freshly dead is probably necessary in a predator like the cat. Mice do not take kindly to being eaten while still alive. This would be even more important in big cats whose prey has horns/tusks and hooves.
It's obvious you're not an animal fan. I'm sure if you asked the majority of people in the nursing home, most of them don't mind shed fur or skin cells. (Which can easily be cleaned up anyway, unless there's no janitor or housekeepr around.)
If I were in a nursing home, I'd be much happier with a pet to keep me company.
THIS CAT OF MINE "KNOWS" WHEN YOU ARE VERY SICK OR IF YOU ARE DOWN IN THE DUMPS. THAT'S THE ONLY TIME HE WILL CURL-UP TO YOU, VERY CLOSELY. OTHERWISE HE JUST GOES ABOUT HIS BUSINESS OF TAKING NAPS.
AS SOMEONE MENTIONED BEFORE, THE EGYPTIANS BELIEVED CATS TO LEAD THE DEAD TO A SPIRITUAL PLACE OR SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THAT.
THEY SAY CATS HAVE A SENSE OF SPIRITUAL PRESENCES...SUCH AS GHOSTS OR SPIRITS. HOW A CAT WILL JUST BE SITTING THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOOR AS YOU WATCH TV...AND SUDDENLY ACT AS THOUGH THEY SEE SOMETHING OR ARE STARTLED BY SOMETHING...AND THERE'S NOTHING THERE! CREEPY!!!
IF HE STARTED WALKING TOWARD ME...HE'D GET ONE SWIFT KICK!
IMAGINE ALL THOSE NERVOUS SENIORS AS THE CAT HEADS TOWARD THEM JUST TO BE PET! CHANGE HIS NAME TO "DEATH" OR "THE GRIM REAPER"!
I THINK I AGREE WITH WHAT THEY ARE CLAIMING OSCAR TO BE DOING. MY SISTER'S CAT ALWAYS HATED MY MOTHER, BUT 2 WEEKS BEFORE SHE PASSED AWAY, HE WAS WITH HER ALL THE TIME. TOO BAD WE DIDNT GET THIS STORY IN MARCH!!!
ROCK ON OSCAR!!!
The first is the more exciting one; Oscar is actually able to perceive something about those that are near death, and responds to it. While I personally find this somewhat unlikely, we can't totally rule it out; having never been cats ourselves, we aren't privy to exactly what cats can and can't perceive.
The second is the option I find more likely; Oscar merely likes to curl up with people for the warmth and company. Some-times though, they die, and when they start to cool, he loses interest and leaves. People notice it when he leaves the newly departed, because they're there and paying attention to what's going on. However, when he curls up with a living person in no danger of dying, he eventually gets bored or hungry and wanders off; since the person is still alive, no one takes notice of the cat; he's just dong what cats do.
Ascribing dome mystical significance to these events is foolish in the extreme. Unless of course he actually is some sort of aura-hungy feline grim reaper, but I honestly think that that is just stupid.