# US cat 'predicts patient deaths'



## Allegra (Jul 26, 2007)

BBC NEWS | Americas | US cat 'predicts patient deaths'

*"A US cat that is reportedly able to sense when a nursing home's residents are about to die is baffling doctors.* 

Oscar has a habit of curling up next to patients at the home in Providence, Rhode Island, in their final hours. 
According to the author of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the two-year-old cat has been observed to be correct in 25 cases so far. 
Staff now alert the families of residents when he sits down next to their ailing loved one. "He doesn't make many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," David Dosa, a professor at Brown University who carried out the research, told the Associated Press news agency."

You wouldn't want that cat near you, would you!  Must be the pet of Death.


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## Talysia (Jul 26, 2007)

I heard about this a little while ago, and I toyed with the idea of posting this myself.  I always knew that animals have some sort of instinct (well, it always seems that way to me) but for this to be so acute and accurate is amazing.  Thinking about it, though, I wonder if the staff are going to keep the reason for this cat's celebrity status from the residents of the nursing home.


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## Allegra (Jul 26, 2007)

Yeah it's really a sensitive problem. The amazing thing about the cat is not only he can sense death, but also decides to sit by the person. What's going on in his little head? We all know dogs also have the same ability and many are trained for people suffering from seizure or diabetes, etc. They can accurately detect the seizure coming and warn the person.


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## Wiggum (Jul 26, 2007)

Talysia said:


> Thinking about it, though, I wonder if the staff are going to keep the reason for this cat's celebrity status from the residents of the nursing home.



If you read the whole article most of the patients are, if not total, then near invalids, that wouldn't be at all aware of the cat's presence.  The main thing the workers at the home gave credit to the cat for is that it alerted them to the possibility of imminent demise which in turn allowed them to alert family members who wouldn't have otherwise been able to be beside at the passing.

That being said, it's still creepy that the Angel of Death meows.


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## mosaix (Jul 26, 2007)

Hasn't it occurred to anyone - it's the cat that is killing these people!


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## HappyHippo (Jul 26, 2007)

My mum has three moggies, and they always know when one of the family is ill, even if we don't know yet. They have 'levels' of attentiveness, and my Mum will base her level of sympathy and nursing on the cats!

I suppose that considering cats know when they themselves are going to die, it's (almost) logical they could sense it in humans?


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## Wiggum (Jul 26, 2007)

mosaix said:


> Hasn't it occurred to anyone - it's the cat that is killing these people!



Catvorkian?


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## SpaceShip (Jul 27, 2007)

Some time ago I read about a dog that could smell specimens of urine and let the doctors know which phials held pre-cancerous specs.  Amazing.


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## jackokent (Jul 27, 2007)

SpaceShip said:


> Some time ago I read about a dog that could smell specimens of urine and let the doctors know which phials held pre-cancerous specs. Amazing.


 
I wonder how they first found this out What was going on?  Doctor's pet dog comes to work with him, he shows it a few urine samples and says "hey sniff these boy, let me know what you think"?


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## Allegra (Jul 27, 2007)

Some old reports on this: 

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Dog trained to smell skin cancer

BBC NEWS | Health | Dogs 'sniff out' bladder cancer


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## Talysia (Jul 27, 2007)

I just found this one, too. It looks like there are quite a few instances of pet empathy, for want of a better term.

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Can pets sense illness?


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## Allegra (Jul 27, 2007)

Thanks for the link, Talysia. The readers comments are a joy to read!


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## scalem X (Jul 27, 2007)

I haven't read the article, but I remain sceptical.
So besides the Catvorkian theory, consider this:
Suppose you spend as much time with an old person, wouldn't you been able to sense when something is wrong? I'm sure I could. I don't see the strangeness in that. What I find distressing is that the cat curls up to a dying person, doesn't that freak you out in the least? I can only assume that a person dying of natural causes becomes colder and that the cat well curls up to lend some warmth to the person.


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## Joel007 (Jul 27, 2007)

Were all the dead people severely allergic to cats?


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## Dave (Jul 27, 2007)

mosaix said:


> Hasn't it occurred to anyone - it's the cat that is killing these people!


When I saw it on the news this morning, it was the first thing I thought of; some kind of cat-borne virus. But I guess we are just too cynical! Most people see this as an uplifting, inspiring story.


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## mosaix (Jul 27, 2007)

Dave said:


> When I saw it on the news this morning, it was the first thing I thought of; some kind of cat-borne virus. But I guess we are just too cynical! Most people see this as an uplifting, inspiring story.



Let's face it Dave, if all those people had died and a same doctor had been in attendance for each one....... Dr Shipman anyone?????


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## Pyan (Aug 19, 2007)

FLASH!
* Psychic Cat Found Dead *
 PROVIDENCE, RI - Oscar, the nursing home cat who could seemingly sense the impending death of patients, was found dead early yesterday. The cat gained recent notoriety when reports of his ability to detect the impending death of the terminally ill became public. Seemingly aware that death was at hand, Oscar would reportedly climb into the bed of patients during their final hours... 




> According to our source, the recent publicity of Oscar's unique insight spread quickly throughout the facility. Patients in the terminal ward became increasingly upset at the sight of the cat, prompting administrators to move Oscar to another floor. After an unexpected death on that floor, Oscar quickly became quite unwelcome there too. "Good riddance." said patient Gertrude Feinman, when told of the cat's demise. "It would just sit there and stare at you - with this look on his face like 'you're next'".


 
(full story here)


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## Allegra (Aug 19, 2007)

Oh that's terrible! But we've seen this coming, right? So they killed the cat and saved lives.


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## Talysia (Aug 19, 2007)

I hate that. If any of the residents or any of their families killed the poor thing for using its' instincts, then that's terrible.


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## kythe (Aug 19, 2007)

I find it interesting that there was so much animosity toward the cat.  It really reveals more about people's attitudes toward death than about the cat itself.  We live in a society that tries to deny death.  We use medication and technology to extend life as long as possible, we don't really talk about death unless it has occurred recently to someone we know, and we use euphamisms like "passed away", "went to be with the Lord", "went home", etc.  

I'm not saying these are bad things in themselves, but considering that death is unavoidable to all who live, one would think we would be more open about it.  Instead, even the terminally ill are afraid of this cat and the "message" it brings.  They should be at a point in life where they are dealing with their emotions about death, and the families are dealing with their anticipated loss.  Instead, we see people showing fear, aversion, and possibly aggression toward an animal that symbolizes this in their minds.  This is very sad.


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## Joel007 (Aug 20, 2007)

Makes you wish that society was more like the time of Shakespeare, when the taboo status of death and sex were reversed


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## flygin (Aug 20, 2007)

That's so sad.  I really hope he died of natural causes, and not people's stupidity.


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## scalem X (Aug 21, 2007)

You can die of stupidity? Ooh I better hit the books again!


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## gully_foyle (Aug 22, 2007)

I discussed this with a friend who works at an aged care home back in July. They have a few cats there and one or two do favour the really terminal ones. She didn't have any explanation for it. The residents didn't seem to mind either, in fact they loved the cats. One possibility is that those who are about to die are least likely to kick the cats off.

On a tenously related note, I saw a news story about a local guy who takes an Alpaca around aged care homes. Takes it into the rooms and all over the place. The people love it. The very young and the very old get a simple joy out of the tactile sensation of a hairy animal. Removing a cat because of media attention is pretty dumb.

p.s. I don't think the Alpaca has any prescient abilities.


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