Nursing Home Cat Comforts the Dying

[The Straight Story]

Nursing Home Cat Comforts the Dying

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. 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 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 judgment was better than that of the nurses: the second patient died that evening, while the first lived for two more days. 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. “It’s not like he dawdles. He’ll slip out for two minutes, grab some kibble and then he’s back at the patient’s side. It’s like he’s literally on a vigil,” Dr Dosa wrote.

I have no doubt that animals can smell or otherwise sense impending death. Several years ago, my now late cat went outside to meet his good friend, the kitty next door. Usually, they hung out together happily. That day, he walked up to her in his usual friendly way, but then, suddenly hissed, swiped at her face, and ran back into the house. I was very perplexed. First, he was a very docile cat. And second, he had just turned on his best pal for no apparent reason. Two hours later I went outside and discovered that she had crawled underneath a car and died. That raised an eyebrow, I will tell you. It would appear that my cat had smelled or sensed her impending demise and found whatever it was to be extremely unpleasant.

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2010/02/02/nursing-home-cat-comforts-the-dying/

[onehandle]

1. Sounds like a Terry Pratchett character.

The Death of Cats.

The Cat of Death?

[Withywindle]

14. There doesn't need to be a Death of Cats

Because DEATH himself, our own DEATH, is a cat lover. :)

If there were a Death of Cats, would he/she/it try to kill the Death of Rats?

[onehandle]

18. Now I have to re-read Reaper Man.

I believe they mentioned the Death of Cats, but I don't remember the circumstances.

:)

[Withywindle]

19. As far as I can recall from that book

DEATH looks down severely on people who hurt cats. HE likes cats because they don't fear him. They wrap around his ankles in joy when he comes to claim them.

He can't help but melt. The only species that is glad to see him.

[elocs]

2. Is this the same cat story that got posted here last week?

Sounds awfully familiar.

[DarthDem]

6. It's Been Posted Before

Still brings tears to my eyes. Sweet cat.

[w8liftinglady]

3. we use a therapy dog at my hospital...my post-op patients love him

http://www.deltasociety.org/Page.aspx?pid=183

[KittyWampus]

11. awwwwwwwww

xoxoxoxoxo

[DemoTex]

4. Reminds me of what we called night combat missions on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

A flight into the mouth of the Cat O' Death.

[concerned1]

5. Original article (2007):

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/4/328
A Day in the Life of Oscar the Cat
David M. Dosa, M.D., M.P.H.

Also
http://www.slate.com/id/2171469/
The Cat Who Knew Too Much
A dose of sentimental claptrap from the New England Journal of Medicine.
By Daniel Engber
Posted Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007, at 11:38 AM ET

[Xithras]

7. Isn't this the cat that was debunked a few years ago?

IIRC, there were a bunch of write ups a few years ago by some doctor who wanted people to study a cat in a nursing home that seemed to "understand" when people were going to die. This eventually triggered a couple of researchers to come in and study it. What they found was less woo woo and more "well, that makes sense."

When the human body starts to shut down, one of the first indicators is a loss of blood flow to the extremities. This is detectable by the patient as a persistent feeling of being cold. Hospice providers help these patients out by either placing pre-warmed blankets on the beds, or by covering the patient in an electric blanket for comfort.

Their findings were that the cat predicted 0% of deaths where the death came suddenly or without warning, and where no extra blankets were used, but that his ability to predict death after a heated blanket was put on was uncanny. As an experiment, they then put electric blankets on a couple of empty beds and a couple of patients who were not in danger of dying any time soon. As it turned out, the cat liked those beds too.

The cat was just looking for a warm spot to lay down.

[KittyWampus]

12. No, that supposed debunking came from an episode of House. It's fiction. Doctors and scientists

posit either chemicals being released by dying bodies or patients lack of movement.

[Xithras]

16. LOL! That's what I get for relaying second-hand information.

I looked it up and you're right. How embarrassing. :blush:

[MineralMan]

8. Wikipedia article. Facts, not something else...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_(cat)

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Saw this on TV..The Animal Planet perhaps.

[paulsby]

10. clearly, the cat is KILLING these people

i mean, the cat snuggles up with somebody and invariably they die soon afterwards.

the others live

i mean, cmon.

:)

[The Straight Story]

13. Cats steal the breath and souls from babies too

:rofl:

[Ex Lurker]

15. my great grandmother firmly believed that n/t

[Mari333]

17. How to Tell if your Cat is Plotting to Kill You

http://www.catswhothrowupgrass.com/kill.php