Meet Oscar, a Nursing Home Cat Who Predicts Death
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He came to public attention in 2007 when he was featured in an article by geriatrician David Dosa in the New England Journal of Medicine. According to Dr. Dosa, Oscar appeared able to predict the impending death of terminally ill patients by choosing to nap next to them a few hours before they died. Hypotheses for this ability include that Oscar was picking up on the lack of movement in such patients or that he could smell biochemicals released by dying cells. He's accurate enough that the staff - including Dosa - know it's time to call family members when Oscar stretches beside their patients, who are generally too ill to notice his presence.
The cat, however, might be picking up on specific odors surrounding death, Dosa and others say. But luckily, quick-thinking vets managed to revive him and he was taken back to the nursing home where he became a patient for a few months. Dosa learns to live for the moment, much like Oscar, who delights in naps and chin scratches or the patient who recovers enough to walk the hall holding the hand of the husband she’ll eventually forget. The content on cat-lovers-only.com is for education and information only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Cat Predicts Deaths At Steere House Nursing Home In Rhode Island
No one's certain if Oscar's behaviour is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behaviour of the nurses who raised him. She had passed away week later, I had to time her death and notifty our RN and they contact the family. I had to prepare her as request to put her in normal clothes instead of gown, I did that even tho it was CNA work to do but I decide to do it myself since I work closely with this resident.
Oscar is the "cat that predicts death." Oscar's job is working in a nursing home in Providence, R.I. Apparently, Oscar has the ability to sense when people are going to die. If kept outside the room of a dying patient, he'll scratch at doors and walls, trying to get in. He once feared that families would be horrified by the furry grim reaper, especially after Dosa made Oscar famous in a 2007 essay in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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The 10-year-old tabby spends his days roaming the halls of Steere House and is known by nurses for being notoriously anti-social. Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his "compassionate hospice care." 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. For his efforts, Oscar has received a Hospice Champion award from a local organization, and he is frequently mentioned in obituaries and during funeral services. After Dosa’s article was published, “Oscar the cat” was one of the top searches on Google for several weeks.
Oscar's been living at Steere House since he was a young kitten and staff members bailed him out of a nearby animal shelter. "I first heard about him from the nurses on the unit," says Dosa, also a geriatrician at Rhode Island Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, R.I. "It came to light that he was spending time with patients as they were becoming terminal." — The scientist in Dr. David Dosa was skeptical when first told that Oscar, an aloof cat kept by a nursing home, regularly predicted patients’ deaths by snuggling alongside them in their final hours.
Oscar (therapy cat)
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. Oscar has even been thanked by families in obituaries for providing some comfort in the final hours of life. Dosa recounts one instance when staff was convinced of the imminent death of one patient but Oscar refused to sit with that person, choosing instead to be on the bed of another patient down the hallway.
But a cat in a Providence, R.I., nursing home, an animal shelter refugee named Oscar, seems to have a sixth sense about when residents in the home's advanced dementia unit are about to pass away. And his actions can sometimes help alert the staff to notify family members in time for them to get to the nursing home to tell their loved ones goodbye. After Oscar accurately predicted 25 deaths, staff started calling family members of residents as soon as they discovered him sleeping next to a patient in order to notify them and give them an opportunity to say goodbye before the impending death.
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. She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call.
BP and HB helps us to figure out if they're dying or need close attention. "Whether it's just cuddling up to people who are alone or keeping children busy, it's really something that the families were grateful and thankful for," he said. Oscar recently received a wall plaque commending his "compassionate hospice care." Nursing home staffers aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance of saying goodbye to the dying.
The scientist in Dr. David Dosa was skeptical when first told that Oscar, an aloof cat kept by a nursing home, regularly predicted patients' deaths by snuggling alongside them in their final hours. 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. I figure, he got keen at it by growing up as a kitten, but other than that...pretty much animals know when something's up with people. It's the same thing as the dogs that are able to predict when their guardian will have a seizure.
The doctor advises worried family members to simply be present for their loved ones. Richards was at her mother's bedside nonstop as she died. After three days, a nurse persuaded her to go home for a brief rest. Her mother died a short while later.But she didn't die alone. When caring for her mother, Richards felt guilty about missing her teenage son's swimming meets.
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