Posted on 02/03/2010 9:12:02 PM PST by Steelfish
Cat Predicts 50 Deaths In RI Nursing Home A cat with an uncanny ability to detect when nursing home patients are about to die has proven itself in around 50 cases by curling up with them in their final hours, according to a new book.
By Tom Leonard 01 Feb 2010
The tortoiseshell and white cat spends its days pacing from room to room, rarely spending any time with patients except those with just hours to live Photo: AP [Pic in URL]
Dr David Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor at Brown University, said that five years of records showed Oscar rarely erring, sometimes proving medical staff at the New England nursing home wrong in their predictions over which patients were close to death. The cat, now five and generally unsociable, was adopted as a kitten at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Providence, Rhode Island, which specialises in caring for people with severe dementia.
Dr Dosa first publicised Oscar's gift in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007. Since then, the cat has gone on to double the number of imminent deaths it has sensed and convinced the geriatrician that it is no fluke. The tortoiseshell and white cat spends its days pacing from room to room, rarely spending any time with patients except those with just hours to live.
If kept outside the room of a dying patient, Oscar will scratch on the door trying to get in. When nurses once placed the cat on the bed of a patient they thought close to death, Oscar "charged out" and went to sit beside someone in another room. The cat's judgement was better than that of the nurses: the second patient died that evening, while the first lived for two more days.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
"Dr Dosa and other staff are so confident in Oscar's accuracy that they will alert family members when the cat jumps on to a bed and stretches out beside its occupant."
Sounds like the cat should be named “The Grim Reaper”. I would keep that cat away from me if I was in that nursing home.
Why "good grief"? Animals alert us to all kinds of things, in case you do not know.
Socialized medicine.
IIRC, the cat sucks the breath out of people in ancient lore.
In reality, dogs and cats have highly developed senses. The cat probably smells something that is a “death rattle” precursor (now THAT would be an interesting pursuit) and is empathetic so expresses itself to the victim.
See Parley Bear’s post
There was an episode of “House” about that. House, believes everything has a scientific explanation for everything. He observed the cat doing it’s thing several times, then noticed the cat liked to sit on the warm computer monitor, it was explained that the cat just preferred to snuggle with people that have fever.
Get rid of the cat, and then no one will die.
Post hoc ergo proptor hoc
.
At our facility, we had a resident dog who had been at the facility for over 15 years. If one of our residents began to fade and took a turn for the worse (as a prelude to death), our dog would lie on the floor in the doorway to the room of the sick resident.
EVERY TIME .. the resident died within a few days.
Animals have a very keen sense. Both our dog and the cat in the story had been residents of a facility for a long time. I think that may be the key.
yes! and cats do have JOBS - this is how they are....
Exactly.
Vultures do the same thing.
If that cat jumped on my bed, I'd throw it out the window.
I don't need no cat around licking its chops waiting for me to kick.
Not to be a party pooper here but just how many times is this story going to be posted? It’s been on here about 4 times now.
Maybe we should send this cat to Afghanistan.
I agree.
It can be very difficult to predict imminent death in these types of patients. Having a sense of when this “really is it” can be quite helpful to the family and loved ones.
And I admit I find it rather sweet that this curmudgeon of a cat, who is generally unsocial, has taken to being there for someone’s final hours.
I've seen pictures of this cat... looks like tabby and white, not tortoiseshell.
Sloppy reporting, if you ask me.
Thanks for all your interesting pings SaA..
My guess is the spiritual realm is the draw to the kitty.. I am confident as one passes there is a lot of activity going on that we cannot observe.
This kitty is a blessing to the nursing home. It does not cause the death just alerts.. nice to have this warning
Humans can detect one-part-per-million in odor. Even average dogs can detect 100x greater than that. I recall that some dogs can detect cancer (and other diseases) in humans.
"Cadaver-dogs", who detect drowning victims under water, are just incredible!
You’re very welcome.
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