Nine lives and six senses
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There's a cat in Providence, Rhode Island who can sense when nursing home patients are about to pass on. The Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (facility that treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses) has raised the 2-year-old cat since it was adopted as a kitten. Oscar curls up next to a dying patient during their final hours, and he seems to understand when patients are about to die according to Dr. David Dosa in an essay published in the July 26th, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The nursing home staff has noted that Oscar has been right in at least 25 cases that have been observed, and once he has chosen a patient, he or she usually dies within four hours. After Oscar moved in to the Steere House, the staff noticed that he would make rounds with doctors and nurses. He would jump on the patient's bed and watch the patient and sniff around. After a while, he would lie beside a patient who would ultimately die in a few hours.
Dr. Dosa, who is a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University said that most families are comforted by the cat and they appreciate the companionship that Oscar gives to their dying loved one. Dosa noted that the cat was not particularly friendly and only cuddles with patients shortly before their death. Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University also works at the nursing home and specializes in terminally ill patients said that Oscar can predict imminent death better than most in the medical profession.
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In order to be sure if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant - Nicholas Dodman, director of an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine stated that the only way to tell is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and the dying. Whether there is a scientific reason or not - Oscar certainly is spending his nine lives wisely helping those who are no so lucky - and has a wall plaque publicly commending his "compassionate hospice care."
