Beware The Cat Of Death

[Minnesota]

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PROVIDENCE --Oscar the cat makes his grand entrances just as life is about to leave.

"He's a cat with an uncanny instinct for death," said Dr. David M. Dosa, assistant professor at the Brown University School of Medicine and a geriatric specialist. "He attends deaths. He's pretty insistent on it."

In the two years since Oscar was adopted into the third-floor dementia unit of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, he has maintained close vigil over the deaths of more than 25 patients, according to nursing staff, doctors who treat patients in the home, and an article in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine, written by Dosa.

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[Brandalf85]

The cat is RumTum and the people she attends to are trolls.

Seriously, that is one crazy story!!

[Jnthn]

I saw that in the newspaper today. Fascinating. Imagine the medical applications of this, especially in field/paramedic lifesaving.

J

[DesertBerean]

I've had two sick cats who purred heavily in their last days. They must consider purring a hugh comfort...for themselves and for humans.

[mossrose]

I have heard of dogs sniffing out cancers and other illnesses before.

And my cat (used to be 2, now 1) knows when I am not feeling well and comes to give me comfort. Whether it is physical illness or emotional, my cat knows!

It's quite amazing, actually.

[mossrose]

I've had two sick cats who purred heavily in their last days. They must consider purring a hugh comfort...for themselves and for humans.

Cats also purr when they are stressed or afraid. My cats never purred as loud as when they were at the vet.

But we humans certainly take comfort from their purrs.

[Teallaura]

Seriously, that is one crazy story!!

Not really, it's common knowledge that some dogs and cats respond to indications of disease. The behavior is kittenish - also not surprising as it's a common attribute of domesticated cats. There's something alerting him to the change - he's trying to fix it. The same thing occurs in neutered toms who adopt kittens. It's out of place for a truly adult wild cat which will lose that social instinct (lions are an exception) but pretty normal for a domestic since they maintain kittenish behavior throughout their lives (wildcats don't do a number of things domestics do - except as kittens/cubs).

He can't nurse and can't hunt and for whatever reason has settled on trying to keep them warm. The purring probably isn't to comfort or from a sense of contentment - cats will purr when frightened or upset. He's probably insecure because he knows something is wrong. He will therefore try everything in his power to fix it (which is why he protests when kept away) - no matter that all he can do is be there. He may even be getting reinforcement from the reactions around him - the patient and others petting him.

Alternatively, it may be only that initially he was trying to fix things but was reinforced to where he is now in effect trained to respond that way. They describe him as gregarious so it's quite possible, maybe even more probable. Anyway, there's nothing all that mysterious about it - he's a cat acting like a cat. Cats are very responsive to their environment and to their human family. A gregarious cat will adopt everyone in the vicinity so he's simply responding to a member of his family. He just happens to be around enough dying people to have picked up on some clue that something is wrong as death approaches, is gregarious or inquisitive enough to respond and probably has been reinforced to do so.

He's basically a really good cat.

[Nicholas]

On the news their calling him Dr. Catvorkian.

[Teallaura]

Idiots.

[mossrose]

Oh, great.

Pretty soon we'll be back to killing the cats for being witches' mediums or some such.

[Nicholas]

Oh, great.

Pretty soon we'll be back to killing the cats for being witches' mediums or some such.

Well, if it weren't for the fact that this is probably something akin to dogs being able to sense when people are about to have a heart attack or a seizure, some people might think that this cat was some sort of prophet...

A prophet of DOOM!!!!!!

[Lazy Agnostic]

Not really, it's common knowledge that some dogs and cats respond to indications of disease. The behavior is kittenish - also not surprising as it's a common attribute of domesticated cats. There's something alerting him to the change - he's trying to fix it. The same thing occurs in neutered toms who adopt kittens. It's out of place for a truly adult wild cat which will lose that social instinct (lions are an exception) but pretty normal for a domestic since they maintain kittenish behavior throughout their lives (wildcats don't do a number of things domestics do - except as kittens/cubs).

He can't nurse and can't hunt and for whatever reason has settled on trying to keep them warm. The purring probably isn't to comfort or from a sense of contentment - cats will purr when frightened or upset. He's probably insecure because he knows something is wrong. He will therefore try everything in his power to fix it (which is why he protests when kept away) - no matter that all he can do is be there. He may even be getting reinforcement from the reactions around him - the patient and others petting him.

Alternatively, it may be only that initially he was trying to fix things but was reinforced to where he is now in effect trained to respond that way. They describe him as gregarious so it's quite possible, maybe even more probable. Anyway, there's nothing all that mysterious about it - he's a cat acting like a cat. Cats are very responsive to their environment and to their human family. A gregarious cat will adopt everyone in the vicinity so he's simply responding to a member of his family. He just happens to be around enough dying people to have picked up on some clue that something is wrong as death approaches, is gregarious or inquisitive enough to respond and probably has been reinforced to do so.

He's basically a really good cat.

Yeah, isn't funny how humans will contort any bit of data or coincidence to convince themselves that something magical or supernatural is afoot?

[Lazy Agnostic]

Well, if it weren't for the fact that this is probably something akin to dogs being able to sense when people are about to have a heart attack or a seizure, some people might think that this cat was some sort of prophet...

A prophet of DOOM!!!!!!

Well, they say dogs can sense an imminent earthquake. So, if you see a busload of Schnauzers leaving town...

[Teallaura]

Yeah, isn't funny how humans will contort any bit of data or coincidence to convince themselves that something magical or supernatural is afoot?

No funnier than people who ignore or deny evidence that disproves their position simply because they don't like it.

Just because you understand what's happening doesn't make it any less wonderful - or cool. The cat is acting like a cat and in so doing bringing a great deal of comfort to his human charges. If you don't think that's totally cool then there's something wrong with your heart.

[Nicholas]

No funnier than people who ignore or deny evidence that disproves their position simply because they don't like it.

Just because you understand what's happening doesn't make it any less wonderful - or cool. The cat is acting like a cat and in so doing bringing a great deal of comfort to his human charges. If you don't think that's totally cool then there's something wrong with your heart.

And if there's something wrong with your heart you should check with a dog to make sure you aren't about to have a heart attack