Cat Commended for Being Harbinger of Death
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- 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 the patient has less than four hours to live.
"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," Dr. David Dosa said in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
"Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.
The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats 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.
Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.
Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill
She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near.
Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room, though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.
Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the advance warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.
Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa's article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying.
If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it's also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person, Dodman said.
Nursing home staffers aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying.
Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his "compassionate hospice care."
...Wow.
Posted on July 25, 2007 @ 10:49 PM | 6 comments
Comments:
That's kind of spooky.
By 
running42k, at
4:11 AM, July 26, 2007
Wow. I guess I'm not too surprised -- cats tend to come sit with you when you're sick or feeling sad or upset -- they can tell. But yes... this is a bit creepy.
By 
lazylightning, at
7:08 AM, July 26, 2007
wow indeed...
By Allie, at
9:34 AM, July 26, 2007
One of the dogs at work is a therapy dog. Daniel does an amazing job of comforting nervous dogs in the lobby (and nervous people too). I think animals can smell a lot more on people that we would ever think possible.
According to the lady who owned Phoebe before me, Phoebe can sense evil spirits. maybe not so much but she could probably tell her previous owner wasn't right in the head. She treats her differently when she comes by to visit.
Animals are just a little more in-tune than people.
By Titania, at
11:32 AM, July 26, 2007
I saw this story on the NBC new the other night. It amazed me too. My cat always seems to show up to cuddle me if I was really upset, and even if my crying was barely audible...usually he isn't interested much in affection. I seem to remember something too about certain alert dogs who are kept by diabetics, and can sense when sugar levels are not right in their owners. Animals are amazing.
By sometrouble, at
11:02 AM, July 29, 2007
Did you see this? LOL Death Cat
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/7060
I am of course talking about Harry Potter. Kat tells me that portions of the book, or perhaps complete text have been leaked onto the internet and now the foaming hordes are posting spoilers everywhere...forum headers, comment boxes, random channel chats, etc. Half the spoilers are probably just made up on the spot by twits who want to join the chaos but nevertheless it's annoying. I myself have avoided any such infection. But it's really hard to turn off reading...so how do I know that the next page I click to isn't going to have Trelawney is REALLY Voldemorte! splashed across the header?
I don't. But I suppose that in these final days I must bravely walk down the street and trust that I won't be the sudden victim of an Unforgivable Spoiler...or germ...or whatever.
Posted on July 17, 2007 @ 6:20 PM |
You probably think I'm being sarcastic. But no...the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) is definitely all of these things, if only because it's an adaptive computer program and I'm pretty sure it has no capacity for emotion. It's also the only way that one can become licensed as a registered nurse in the United States.
And that's what we were there for.
Everyone in our program has to pass the NCLEX by August 31st or else we are politely asked to leave. We can retake the NCLEX at a later date, 90 days minimum, but we cannot continue in the nurse practitioner program. This means that all of us have one chance, and only one chance, to pass the exam this summer. We were allowed to schedule it at any time we wanted and as a class we're scattered all across the summer depending on comfort levels. The three of us testing on the 10th were the first people to take it in our program, the trailblazers.
It was horrible.
I have always tested well. I'm one of the better students in the class. The other two are also excellent students. All three of us walked out of the test convinced we'd failed. During the test we each had about 3-5 questions we were certain we got right, the other 70 or so we were pretty unsure about. I spent the next 36 hours a complete mess....but this morning....
WHEE!!!
Update: My two friends who took the test with me both passed. Last night we had a celebratory meal at our house...one of them even baked a giant cookie in the shape of "RN".
Posted on July 12, 2007 @ 9:50 AM | 11 comments
Comments:
Pardon my French, but
YOU FUCKING ROCK!!!
By Kat, at
1:04 PM, July 12, 2007
HURRAY HURRAY! AWESOME!
By LazyLightning, at
1:20 PM, July 12, 2007
CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's so exciting! Good work :o)
By Allie, at
5:34 PM, July 12, 2007
Great job justin!!! Congrats!!! Man, I bet that's a huge relief for you!
I know this doesn't require nearly as much work as nursing school but I've heard the test here for Medical Technologist is pretty merciless as well. The computerized test focuses in on the questions you get wrong and asks you a lot of questions on the same topic, feeding off your weakness.
By sometrouble, at
9:00 PM, July 12, 2007
Yaaaaaaay!
On a nerdy side note, I'm glad that Pearson is getting its grubby little hands into the standardized testing market. I'm sure they are a "non-profit organization", just like Educational Testing Services. Puh.
NEWAYZ, YOU PASSED! They ain't gettin' no mo' yo' munnies!
By Rachel, at
11:19 PM, July 12, 2007
Thank god....$200 per attempt, and that's not counting the $70 you pay to the nursing board to even be allowed to take the test in the first place.
By Justin, at
12:20 AM, July 13, 2007
Well done.
By running42k, at
4:18 AM, July 13, 2007
yaya! way to make your classmates who haven't teste dyet sweat!
By , at
5:33 PM, July 15, 2007
er, tested yet.
By , at
5:34 PM, July 15, 2007
ZOMFGS GRTZ WOOT WOOT!
Ahem. I knew you could do it. You spent way too much time telling me about the bones in my skull during Dawn of the Dead that one time not to pass. Cheers, Justin.
PS. You two come visit before I leave the damn country.
By Titania, at
7:57 AM, July 20, 2007
Nice job Justin! I hope that you are around if I ever get injured !!
By Kyle, at
9:50 PM, July 24, 2007
So, with some trepidation and great relief, I decided it was time to retire my Schwinn. I've wanted to get a better bike since my friends took up road riding in college... I just didn't have the money to put into getting a decent model. Since I've maxed out my pleasure on distance running I figured that weekend rides would be the perfect alternate form of exercise and recreation.
So I finally bit the bullet. After trying out several models of road and cyclocross bikes, I picked up a (neon green) beauty from Counterbalance bikes where our friend Peter works. I present you with my new ride, the Kona Jake the Snake:
I just have to pick up a pair of riding shoes and I'll soon be out on the road with my baby, wearing shorts that feel like an adult diaper and looking like the lycra-clad freak I always dreamed I'd be. Let's rack up the miles, Jake!
Posted on July 05, 2007 @ 11:22 PM | 3 comments
Comments:
Sweet ride.
By running42k, at
4:23 AM, July 06, 2007
*jealous*
By lazylightning, at
8:45 AM, July 06, 2007
and she moves on that 'snake !!
nice match...
- Justin and I put down a deposit on the services of our wedding planner, Katalin Green in Montana.
- A month of physical therapy (with at-home and in-gym exercises) has me (mostly) healed
- Justin's dad came to visit and I took pictures of Tim's time in town
- The Solstice Parade rolled through town in mid June with the usual assortment of nude bicyclists and hippie floats. It was another great photo op: photos from the 2007 Fremont Solstice Parade are in my gallery (some are NSFW)
- I'd started to feel like I wasn't getting enough of summer, so Justin and I spent last weekend outdoors between Alki Beach and Mount Rainier (photo link), a lot of the time re-reading Harry Potter in anticipation of the new book
- We're planning a series of backpacking trips now that the snow level has started to drop. We've also chosen dates next month for this our trip to Glacier National Park. This year we'll be looking at wedding venues and meeting vendors in addition to hiking and camping! :)
EDIT: Oh yah, and Rachel and Micah came to visit us for the weekend. We had a good time sushi-eating, boot-camping, and Roller-Derby...ing! (Sorry I forgot, doods :-)
Posted on @ 11:03 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
Hay we came to visit you guys! Where's the love?!?!
Yay for new bike too!
Also, DC for the win. Email me if you can't decipher.
By Rachel, at
12:28 AM, July 06, 2007
No love for sibs either. But I'm glad you seem to be alive. Sweet new bike!
By Titania, at
8:01 PM, July 06, 2007
