In my opinion this is an interesting and touching story about a special cat in Rhode Island that like many animals seems to have an inexplicable ability to understand human behavior better than even trained medical personnel and other humans do.
In his case he has an ability to predict terminal nursing home patients last few precious hours of life, acting as a "canary in the coal mine of sorts" allowing the families of these patients final moments with their loved ones based on his unfailing predictions allowing nurses to contact these families when he visits the patient on his rounds, no joke. His record now is 25-0.
Read more about this cool cat below.
Oscar the Cat Predicts Patient Deaths Accurately
Yahoo! News: "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. continued
R.I.,... Slideshow: Hospice cat seems to predict death
I suppose others could look at the "grim reaper is coming" aspect of Oscars final hours visits as the loony and ditsy eye candy co-host of "Fox and Friends pre-edition" does this morning while running the I admit clever banner headline "Don't Fur the Reaper"
But aside from her so far the consensus seems to be positive from the nursing home pt's families the only ones that really matter, and there are no plans to stop Oscar's little rounds at the hospice and nursing home anytime soon.
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