Nursing Home Cat Predicts Deaths with Uncanny Accuracy

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Curls up with patients when their time is coming

Nurses call family members based on the cat's behavior!

[thinkerlady[$]]

This reminded me of my MIL. She loved her cat, and when Mom got sick, the cat knew something was happening. The few times Mom was at home after her surgery, the cat was at her side, we laughed, almost like a bodyguard. When mom took her turn for the worse, she was in a nursing home. The cat was at home, and completely restless. Someone in the family visited the cat each day for food etc, and when you did, it was almost as if the cat was trying to tell us something. It was eerie.

I am not a cat lover, but I do respect them and their intellect. There was a story I taught my class a few years ago, about a cat named Oscar that didn't like to to "cat" things, but much prefered "people" things. The cat went to the library to visit people, attended yoga classes, and listened to music. It was a cute story.

[lynnzop[$]]

Dandi (my aunt's Pomeranian) knew when Carole's time had come. That dog was/is the biggest PITA, but he loved my aunt. Yappy little thing, but on the day she died, he quieted down, and curled up with her until she was gone. Then he went out and "told" my cousin.

Animals are incredible.

[MrsNormanMaine[$]]

I wouldn't mind a couple of Oscars for my clinical work. Might make some things easier.

Dr. MNM

[pippadaisy[$]]

I shouldn't make light, but G, who hates cats, is now convinced that ALL cats are under the employ of the Grim Reaper after I sent him this story.

[jgibson2[$]]

Dr. Clark Bartram of Unintelligent Design (blog) has an interesting take on the whole thing and a link to the original editorial telling Oscar's story.

He wonders if some of this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. IOW, if the "dying" patients receive different care after Oscar snuggles with them. He'd like more information, though - like are all these folks DNR's prior to Oscar's visits.

I'd like to know if any autopsies are being done and if anything odd would turn up if they were. Just call me a cynic.

[pippadaisy[$]]

Heh. He said nincompoop. I love that word.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

The story mentioned it could be he likes to lie on the electic blankets they use on the dying patients, IIRC. I was thinking as the body starts shutting down, perhaps the patients are emitting an odor or phermones or something that Oscar is picking up on and humans might not. (Would makes sense from an evolutionary, hunter-animal point of view.) Or it's a coincidence and people are selectively noticing and remembering what Oscar does or doesn't do. But either way, it's a cute story and I like the thought that dying elderly patients have a furbaby cuddling with them as they lay dying.

[drmomentum[$]]

MJ - I hope you don't feel I was picking on you. That's part of why I wanted to make a blog post instead of participate in this thread. The story came at me from all over the place. The blog post was just a reaction to that.

I don't begrudge anyone the cuddly aspect of this story. But there's a creepy aspect I just didn't think belonged in Animal Attraction.

-JP

[eris esoteric]

So, you think Gaiman, or King should be the one to write the story about the nursing home resident who hears about the cat's ability to sense death and starts laying traps to keep the cat from snuggling with him?

[MiracleMax]

There was a thing about this on the news last night (sometimes we're a little slow on things around here), and they mentioned that supposedly there's a cat at a nursing home in the KC area that does the same sort of thing. They didn't go into details about it though, and I can't even remember what home they said had the cat.

[eris esoteric]

Uh, oh, Pixie wants to cuddle with me.

I'm a goner!