On July 26th, 2007, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article by Dr. David Dosa…a true story about Oscar, the 2-year-old cat that was providing companionship to dying people in Providence, Rhode Island dementia ward.
But more than that, Oscar has an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die (in fact, Oscar’s better at predicting a death than the people working there)—he curls up next to the dying during their final hours.
His accuracy has been observed in 25 cases and 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. Dosa in an interview.
Oscar was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center—a facility treating people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses. After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He’d sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
Read an excerpt now
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