[Ninja Duck]

Oscar the nursing home cat can sense death
Updated Thu. Jul. 26 2007 10:39 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

His name is Oscar. He's not the friendliest cat. But he has an uncanny knack for predicting within hours when nursing home patients with whom he lives are about to die.

Oscar lives at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, and is the subject of a fascinating essay in this week's issue of the prestigious medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine.

What makes Oscar special is his ability to sense when one of the hospice's residents is about to die.

Every day, Oscar makes his rounds among the patients, entering each room and giving each patient a sniff. When he senses that someone is near the end of his or life, he will hop onto their bed and curl up beside them. Within hours, without fail, the patient will die.

Oscar has demonstrated his prognostication skills at least 25 times. He's considered so accurate that nursing home staff will immediately call family members once Oscar has chosen someone, since it usually means they have less than four hours to live.

http://www.ctv.ca/se...0726?hub=Health

I wish I had one of those. Like, if I have old bowl of chili in the refrigerator and I don't know if it's still fresh enough to eat, I could feed it to the cat. If he likes it, it was too old. Isn't science wonderful?

[Bond]

Um...

You know what? I'll just retreat back into my shell and let Mr. T do the talking:

"Ah pity da foo' who believe in claihvoiyance! Dat's a whole lotta jibba-jabba!"

As the T has spoken, so shall it be...

[reiner]

crazy cat

[optimus_prime]

considering choice chances, cats can consciously collaborte & communicate collectively, cause curiousity can cause confusion. cats can coexist cynically, communitywise. cats continually cast cleverness, cause cats creatively construct charm.

[Slade]

Someone has been watching/reading a little too much V for Vendetta lately.

Also, just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's not real, and of course, there are probably more and maybe better explanations for how this cat senses death than clairvoyance. When I lived at home, my dog always knew when my mom and dad were coming home no matter when it was. He'd go to the window and watch the road, and without fail, ten minutes to a half an hour later, they'd pull in the driveway. Or he'd be at the window to watch another dog walk by.

For this to have any sort of weight, they need to say how often the cat gets its predictions wrong, though.

[Bond]

That's true...

[Otal Nimrodi]

I wish I had one of those. Like, if I have old bowl of chili in the refrigerator and I don't know if it's still fresh enough to eat, I could feed it to the cat. If he likes it, it was too old. Isn't science wonderful?

And if he dies, it's too old?

[Bond]

And, if he comes back to life, he's a zombie?

[Cobnat]

Grandpa: I’m telling you, that cat is going to kill me!

Grandchildren: Oh Grandpa, you and your stories.

Grandpa: Look, every time that cat gets near someone, they die... Ted, Billy, James… I’m telling you, its no coincidence.

[Bond]

Cat: *meow*

Grandpa: Augh! Don't kill me, demon cat... you wouldn't... ouh!

(Grandpa drops dead of heart failure.)

Cat: *meow*

[Deepsycher]

Joke: Try replacing Carlos 9 for the cat.

[Bond]

Um... who's Carlos 9? Is he a clone of Carlos Mencia?

This post has been edited by Bond: 30 July 2007 - 03:14 PM

[Deepsycher]

Maybe but I think a matching name would be Cat o' 9

[Bond]

Ar! Be he scurvy?