July 25, 2007
Cat's "Sixth Sense" Predicting Death?
Nursing Home Cat Named Oscar Seems to Know When Death Is Near
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Oscar The 'Amazing Cat'
Only On The Web: Dr. David Dosa talks with Richard Schlesinger about Oscar the Cat, who seems to have the ability to know when patients at a Rhode Island nursing home are about to pass away.
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Cat Is Harbinger Of Death
Oscar the Cat seems to know when patients in the nursing home where he lives are about to die. He visits their bedside in their final hours, providing comfort. Richard Schlesinger reports.
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Oscar, a hospice cat at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, R.I., walks past an activity room at the facility on July 23, 2007. (AP)
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Animal Instincts
Photos: Take a gander at some of our favorite critters.
But a cat in a Providence, R.I., nursing home, an animal shelter refugee named Oscar, seems to have a sixth sense about when residents in the home's advanced dementia unit are about to pass away. And his actions can sometimes
help alert the staff to notify family members in time for them to get to the nursing home to tell their loved ones goodbye.
When he senses their time is near, Oscar goes to the room, jumps onto the bed, curls up next to the patient, and purrs. The 2-year-old cat provides
welcome company for grieving family members and staff keeping their bedside
vigil; sometimes he fills in for family members who haven't yet arrived at the bedside.
So far, Oscar has "presided over" the deaths of more than 25 residents in the advanced dementia unit of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Although the story sounds far-fetched, David M. Dosa, MD, MPH, a geriatrician who cares for patients at the nursing home, thought it was time the story of Oscar was heard.
On a whim, he wrote an essay about Oscar and submitted it to TheNew England Journal of Medicine, known more for its scientific reports on chemotherapy regimens, drug reactions, infections, and heart defects than reports on feline behavior.Only On The Web: More with Oscar the cat
"I was quite surprised they agreed to publish it," he tells WebMD. "It is not usually the type of article they will publish." The saga of Oscar, complete with his photo, is in the July 26 issue of the journal.
From Shelter Resident to Star
Oscar's been living at Steere House since he was a young kitten and staff members bailed him out of a nearby animal shelter. "I first heard about him
from the nurses on the unit," says Dosa, also a geriatrician at Rhode Island Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert
Medical School of Brown University, Providence, R.I. "It came to light that
he was spending time with patients as they were becoming terminal."
The cat, Dosa says, seems to snap to attention when he senses a patient is about to die. In the essay, for instance, Dosa tells of Oscar arriving at the room of a woman and curling up beside her for more than an hour, purring and paying attention to the patient as the family arrives and the priest gives last rites, then quietly taking his leave minutes after the woman passes away.
"As people would pass, the question [among staff] was always, 'Was Oscar at the bedside?'" Dosa tells WebMD. "And the answer was invariably 'yes.' This is an end-stage dementia unit. Deaths are common."
Oscar typically arrives at a dying patient's bedside a few hours before death, Dosa says, but sometimes a half day before. His presence has been
a comfort to many family members, Dosa says. And his presence, coupled with a resident's worsening state of health, can help alert the nursing home staff to let family members know the patient may be nearing death. As Oscar's reputation grew, so did appreciation for his mission. "The largest
hospice organization in the state presented him with a certificate b&
acknowledging his work," Dosa says.
How Does He Know?
Explaining Oscar's track record and seeming ability to "read" a resident's end-of-life stages and predict death is a mystery, Dosa and others at the nursing home acknowledge. "Your guess is as good as mine," Dosa says when asked how Oscar picks up the sense of impending death.
"We know from some objective findings when death is imminent," Dosa says. For instance, if respirations grow difficult in a very sick patient, he says, doctors may tell loved ones death will probably occur soon.
The cat, however, might be picking up on specific odors surrounding death,
Dosa and other says.
"I think there are certain chemicals released when somene is dying, and he is smelling and sensing those," says Joan Teno, MD, professor of community health and medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, R.I., who also cares for Steere House residents.
Another possibility: "I think he is following the patterning behavior of the staff," Teno tells WebMD. "This is an excellent nursing home. If a dying person is alone, the staff will actually go in so the patient is not
alone. They will hold a vigil."
Oscar has seen that pattern repeated many times, she says, and may be
mimicking it.
"Animals are intuitive," she says. "We don't give them enough credit."
One of the first cases, Teno says, involved a resident who had a blood clot
in her leg. "Her leg was ice cold," Teno says. "Oscar wrapped his body around her leg," she says, and stayed until the woman died.
Animal Experts Weigh In
Three animal behavior experts say the explanation about Oscar sensing a smell associated with dying is a plausible one.
"I suspect he is smelling some chemical released just before dying," says Margie Scherk, DVM, president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, an organization devoted to improving the health and well-being of cats, and a veterinarian in Vancouver, British Columbia. "Cats can smell a lot of things we can't," she says. "And cats can certainly detect
illness."
"Cats have a superb sense of smell," adds Jill Goldman, PhD, a certified applied animal behaviorist in Laguna Beach, Calif. In Oscar's case, she says, keeping a dying resident company may also be learned behavior. "There has been ample opportunity for him to make an association between 'that' smell [and death]," she says.
While the sense of smell may be one explanation, there could be another,
says Daniel Estep, PhD, a certified applied animal behaviorist in Littleton,
Colo. "One of the things that happen with people who are dying is that they
are not moving around much. Maybe the cat is picking up on the fact that the
person on the bed is very quiet. It may not be smell or sounds, but just the
lack of movement."
By Kathleen Doheny
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.
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See all 122 CommentsSome "scientists" will say *anything* to avoid admitting that there might just be some actual cognition going on in an animal!
Hence, my theory is that probably all cats have this sense but the typical cat is not this loyal! If I were ever on my deathbed I suspect my precious little Sammipoo would be off like a rocket!
Nor, do I doubt it.
...
Is Oscar mentioned in any of their wills ?
The least the cat could do is administer CPR.
The residents of that nursing home should start keeping their doors locked.
The most interesting or informative thing about this story is that comment from erasmus6 "if you died, your cat would eat you."
I am never going to look at my fat cat the same ever again. Hum... I wonder what cat tastes like...
I think I will have a little chat with my cat and explain the odds of me out living a cat. Maybe we can come to some sort of a gentleman's agreement on what constitutes food.
they will someday bring the dead back to life .
cats will survive **** sapiens and rule the planet . their priorities are more valid than all other mammals . cats are self aware and psychologically superior to humans . they use sophisticated verbal inflections that are more advanced than any form of communication on this planet . cats originated in alien civilizations and were placed on earth by a benevolent visitor from deep space for the purpose of helping our helpless species survive .
(I agree, really slooooow news day.)
I GREW UP FAR ALWAY OF THE CITY TILL MY 19years old, I HAD CAT'S and WE HAVE A VERY GOOD RELATION, I LEARNED A LOT OF THINGS WITH THEM, WITH WORD'S CAN'T EXPLAIN, I DON'T THINK IT ISN'T SOMETHING SPECIAL, MENS ARE NOT PAYING ATENTION TO THEYR INSTINCT ANYMORE... :D "I DO!" THEY ARE CONCENTRATED IN A WORLD OF FEELINGS(Senses), SMELL , SOUNDS, VISION, and to survive, THEM BODYS HAVE IT MORE DEVELOPED THEM US HUMAN-BEINGS, BUT WE ALSO HAVE, IT'S EASY TO SEE WHEN THE ENERGY IT'S LEAVING THE BODY, TAKE SOME FEW HOURS... THEY SEE IT CLEARLY.. ;-)
I have get grandpa out of there FAST!!!
Nor, do I doubt it.
...
Posted by MrHoppy
Would the story be more palatable if Oscar was just busted for his second DUI just 10 days after getting out of Rehab?
(Oh, ***)
But seriously, folks, I agree with cats having that "sixth" sense. Also, I think some cats can develop loyalty, or at least a good memory. My one cat keeps an eye on me when I get home. Sure enough, when I hit the recliner and turn on SportsCenter, she leaps up onto my lap and starts rubbing her head up against my hand, wanting to be petted.
Actually, I love both dogs and cats. (I wonder if this starts the same type of fight that my loving both the Cubs and White Sox does.) Biggest difference: dogs are a little tougher to maintain. Whether the greater loyalty makes up for that, I leave for debate.
I WAS IN A BUS 7years AGO AND ALMOST 3MINUTS BEFORE, I FELT THE BOUNS ON MY LEGS LIKE FREEZING, AND THE SENSATION REACHED MY STOMAC, AND I SAW TWOO GUYS GETTING, LOOKING NORMAL DRESSED, I SAID TO SOMEBODY NEXT OF ME(Before they get in the bus)... THEY WILL ATACK PEOPLE ON THIS BUS(to steal everyone), they got speachless, THE I DID WAIT SOME FEWS MINUTS AND BEFORE OF THE TUNNEL, I JSUT STAND UP, AND SAID THE DRIVER, STOP HERE OPEN THE DOOR CUZ I WON'T ACROSS THE TUNNEL, & IF U ACROSS IT WILL BE UR OWN RESPONSABILITY, FOR WHAT WILL HAPPEN, BUT THE THE GUYS WERE STEALING EVRYONE BEHIND AND THE FORCED THE DRIVER TO STOP IN THE MIDLE OF THE TUNNEL AND LEAVE THEM OUT, I WAS THE ONLY ONE WIHCH THEY DIDN'T STEAL "lol"....
A twon like that you need to traine ur instinc...
other wise you are not in the place of the cat, but then of the DEAD!
Our Dr said despite the annual exams performed the months before her death were not set up to scan for that type of cancer as she was not in that age group and showed no visible signs of cancer!
But our cat surely knew!
MEOW.
Meeeeow.
P.S. Meow!
We joke about Mom's cat scan.
Well, on a human level, its actually quite fascinating. Because a dog or a cat can't speak. And their method of communication is very limited. So its quite possible that house pets have evolved an extra-ordinary sense of spiritual opportunity. Its like a blind man will hear better. Or a def man will see better. As society level of communication increases, its level of a ability to sense things around it, decreases. It is quite literally a numbing effect.
A dog or a cat has learned how to sense the things that mankind once knew.. and forgot.
That's how science works.
That's why the editors decided to publish this article in a medical journal. It starts the ball rolling.
Urine attracts people of the opposite ***. Its also what the early settlers used as toothpaste. The ammonia whitens teeth.
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