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.
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Apparrently Oscar hangs around patients who will die soon. It seems odd to me that they're missing the obvious answer: Oscar is somehow killing these people.
Have all those years of Buffy taught us nothing?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
The fact these doctors go to medical school for 6 years and then have 3 years of residency astounds me. That they could miss the obvious truth behind all this is ridiculous.
Forget Buffy, if these doctors had simply watched a few episodes of The X Files the answer would be obvious.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Cats guide souls on the Paths of the Dead leading to the Afterlife. What would be the point of being granted nine lives if cats didn't use the knowlege they gain through eight deaths?
[ July 25, 2007, 07:02 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Interesting story, thanks for sharing.
I found it sad and heartwarming at the same time.
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
It's a little known fact that while usually being with a pet extends one's life, one in a thousand pets actually shorten lives considerably.
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
Oscar is trying to call dibs on dinner, and people keep messing up his plan.
Posted by The Reader (Member # 3636) on :
Dead and dying people are less likely to swat away pesky cats.
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
Cats steal the breath of babies in their sleep.
So sayeth my overly superstitious co-worker.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
But, I mean, once the baby is done with the breath, wouldn't it be okay for the cat to have it?
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
I wondered whether if the cat could predict accidental deaths as well. Would the hospital receptionist freak out if the cat curled up in their lap?
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
And what would happen if their freaking out is what caused their death?
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
quote:Cats steal the breath of babies in their sleep.
It's actually little gnomes, and unbeknownst to you your cat is actually protecting your life every night.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Chris, I think your grasp of the obvious truth of this matter definitely merits a column!
If this is anything like a recent episode of The Closer I watched, I'd say that the cat is probably in cahoots with the nursing home administration.
Seriously, now, cool article.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
What do people make of the warm blanket theory? It seems like that would have been pretty obvious if that were the explanation.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
It's possible that there's something like that at work, although that idea doesn't account for the example given of the cat thinking the patient wasn't ready to die with the staff did. I have no idea how common an occurance that is. It'd be really interesting to read a careful study of this cat's behavior, in which variables like that were taken into account.
Personally, I think that he is Oscar, Devourer of Souls.
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