July 26, 2007 7:10 AM

Last night he curled up next to a copy of the Bill of Rights

Feline Grim Reaper Stalks R.I. Nursing Home

(AP) PROVIDENCE, R.I. 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 they have less than four hours to live…. “He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” said Dr. David Dosa 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 next time a cat crawls into bed with you, you might want to give some thought to this story. This furry Angel of Death seems to have an uncanny knack of knowing precisely when a person is in the final hours. It’s a little creepy, but it also raises some questions about how an animal like Oscar can discern that a person is close to death. Stuff like this fascinates me, because it’s so far outside normal human perceptual capabilities that I can’t begin to understand how this might even be possible.

At least Oscar’s gift is generally seen as a comfort by the staff and the families of patients about to expire. I don’t know if anyone will ever be able to definitively explain Oscar’s gift; this may remain one of life’s unsolved mysteries. Perhaps some things just aren’t meant to be fully understood.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 26, 2007 7:10 AM.

Ladies & Gentleman...the next President of the United States!! Aagghhh...MY EYES!!! was the previous entry in this blog.

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