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http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/07/25/723728.html&cvq
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Oscar the Cat Predicts Patients' Deaths
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer

3 hours ago

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 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 advanced 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."

___

Science writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

New England Journal of Medicine: http://content.nejm.org/