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.
cool…and yet somewhat creepy…
What if it’s the other way around? If I had a loved one staying there I would give the nursing home staff explicit orders that the cat is to stay out of grandmom’s room!
What if the 25 people were just deathly allergic to cats?
Hmmmm!
Fascinating.