QuoteCat predicts 50 deaths in RI nursing home
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 cat, now five and generally unsociable, was adopted as a kitten at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Providence, Rhode Island, which specialises in caring for people with severe dementia.
Dr Dosa first publicised Oscar's gift in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007. Since then, the cat has gone on to double the number of imminent deaths it has sensed and convinced the geriatrician that it is no fluke.
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 judgement 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.
Dr Dosa noted that the nursing home keeps five other cats, but none of the others have ever displayed a similar ability.
In his book, "Making rounds with Oscar: the extraordinary gift of an ordinary cat", Dr Dosa offers no solid scientific explanation for Oscar's behaviour.
He suggests Oscar is able - like dogs, which can reportedly smell cancer - to detect ketones, the distinctly-odoured biochemicals given off by dying cells.
Far from recoiling from Oscar's presence, now they know its significance, relatives and friends of patients have been comforted and sometimes praised the cat in newspaper death notices and eulogies, said Dr Dosa.
"People were actually taking great comfort in this idea, that this animal was there and might be there when their loved ones eventually pass. He was there when they couldn't be," he said.
:cthulu:
Weren't there articles about this a couple years ago?
Quote from: Syt on February 02, 2010, 10:10:41 AM
Weren't there articles about this a couple years ago?
The telegraph to Poland has been down.
It's because the patients are allergic to cats. Having a cat curl up beside you while allergic will kill ya.
Quote from: Ed Anger on February 02, 2010, 10:14:42 AM
The telegraph to Poland has been down.
Actually, the line was fine, but the Polack who could count to three (and so tell an O from an M) ragequit , and it took three years to train another.
Quote from: Syt on February 02, 2010, 10:10:41 AM
Weren't there articles about this a couple years ago?
Yes, the article talks about it.
Quote from: grumbler on February 02, 2010, 10:41:37 AM
Quote from: Ed Anger on February 02, 2010, 10:14:42 AM
The telegraph to Poland has been down.
Actually, the line was fine, but the Polack who could count to three (and so tell an O from an M) ragequit , and it took three years to train another.
:pinch: :lmfao:
There's no such thing as a tortoiseshell and white cat. A Tortoiseshell cat is defined by not having any white on it! Having white on it will make it a Calico.
More than a couple years, BTW. I remember reading about Oscar when I was working on my music degree in 2005.
This is an episode of House.
Quote from: Razgovory on February 02, 2010, 12:27:12 PM
There's no such thing as a tortoiseshell and white cat. A Tortoiseshell cat is defined by not having any white on it! Having white on it will make it a Calico.
Anther of Raz's "traditional and less stupid" definitions that is wrong? Yes! Two in one day!
The term "calico cat" isn't generally used in the UK. Instead, they use (get ready for it)... "tortoiseshell and white cat!" :lol:
I think I saw this story before when it was called "The Cat From Hell" and was a vingnette in Creepshow 3. :menace:
Quote from: grumbler on February 02, 2010, 12:48:29 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on February 02, 2010, 12:27:12 PM
There's no such thing as a tortoiseshell and white cat. A Tortoiseshell cat is defined by not having any white on it! Having white on it will make it a Calico.
Anther of Raz's "traditional and less stupid" definitions that is wrong? Yes! Two in one day!
The term "calico cat" isn't generally used in the UK. Instead, they use (get ready for it)... "tortoiseshell and white cat!" :lol:
The story is in New England not old England.
Quote from: Razgovory on February 02, 2010, 01:18:05 PM
The story is in New England not old England.
The author is from Olde England, not New England (this is from the Torygraph).
Quote from: grumbler on February 02, 2010, 02:17:05 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on February 02, 2010, 01:18:05 PM
The story is in New England not old England.
The author is from Olde England, not New England (this is from the Torygraph).
I'm can't bothered with the customs of proto-Americans and other lower life forms.
I expect a long & spirited debate on whether American cat terms are correct since the cat is American or if British cat terms are correct since the story was written by a Brit for a Brit paper.
Don't let me down-- I already have popcorn in the microwave.
Why has not the blasphemous cat been dunked? Clearly, New England has not lost its penchant for witchcraft!
Quote from: Malthus on February 02, 2010, 03:33:47 PM
Why has not the blasphemous cat been dunked? Clearly, New England has not lost its penchant for witchcraft!
Witchcraft is now celebrated in Salem. :(
Quote from: garbon on February 02, 2010, 03:38:12 PM
Quote from: Malthus on February 02, 2010, 03:33:47 PM
Why has not the blasphemous cat been dunked? Clearly, New England has not lost its penchant for witchcraft!
Witchcraft is now celebrated in Salem. :(
Real witchcraft, of the 'attempting to wreak harm on your enemies through magical means or poisions' variety, or recently invented new age feelgoodery? ;)
IIRC a little bit of both.
What Cal said.
Quote from: derspiess on February 02, 2010, 03:18:37 PM
I expect a long & spirited debate on whether American cat terms are correct since the cat is American or if British cat terms are correct since the story was written by a Brit for a Brit paper.
Don't let me down-- I already have popcorn in the microwave.
I think that, since Raz and I were mostly just goofing around about the topic, there will be few sparks.
Quote from: Malthus on February 02, 2010, 03:33:47 PM
Why has not the blasphemous cat been dunked? Clearly, New England has not lost its penchant for witchcraft!
Rhode Ilsand had its last serious vampire scares in the 1890s. :cool:
Was it the Cullens? :o
Quote from: grumbler on February 02, 2010, 06:27:26 PM
Quote from: derspiess on February 02, 2010, 03:18:37 PM
I expect a long & spirited debate on whether American cat terms are correct since the cat is American or if British cat terms are correct since the story was written by a Brit for a Brit paper.
Don't let me down-- I already have popcorn in the microwave.
I think that, since Raz and I were mostly just goofing around about the topic, there will be few sparks.
I enjoy goofing around. :Embarrass:
Quote from: grumbler on February 02, 2010, 06:27:26 PM
I think that, since Raz and I were mostly just goofing around about the topic, there will be few sparks.
Many a good Languish flamefest has begun that way. Unfortunately, that's not the case here :(
Maybe it's not just this cat.
Didn't the Ancient Egyptians believe that cats were the keepers of the Underworld?
Maybe their beliefs were based on something real that they observed...
Did they try to breed this cat? If one cat can take care of 50 elderly, then imagine what a whole family of such cats can do for our Medicare costs.
Quote from: DGuller on February 03, 2010, 09:30:54 AM
Did they try to breed this cat? If one cat can take care of 50 elderly, then imagine what a whole family of such cats can do for our Medicare costs.
OMG, it's the centerpiece of the Democratic healthcare initiative! Forget "death panels", it's "death kitties"!
Quote from: Malthus on February 03, 2010, 11:31:06 AM
Quote from: DGuller on February 03, 2010, 09:30:54 AM
Did they try to breed this cat? If one cat can take care of 50 elderly, then imagine what a whole family of such cats can do for our Medicare costs.
OMG, it's the centerpiece of the Democratic healthcare initiative! Forget "death panels", it's "death kitties"!
Correction. "Death land fish".
Quote from: Martinus on February 03, 2010, 12:08:15 PM
Quote from: Malthus on February 03, 2010, 11:31:06 AM
Quote from: DGuller on February 03, 2010, 09:30:54 AM
Did they try to breed this cat? If one cat can take care of 50 elderly, then imagine what a whole family of such cats can do for our Medicare costs.
OMG, it's the centerpiece of the Democratic healthcare initiative! Forget "death panels", it's "death kitties"!
Correction. "Death land fish".
I almost said "death pussies" to rhyme with "death panels" ... but realized that could be taken the wrong way. ;)
Quote from: Malthus on February 03, 2010, 12:23:07 PM
I almost said "death pussies" to rhyme with "death panels" ... but realized that could be taken the wrong way. ;)
:huh: Damage to rep done, anyway.