US cat 'predicts patient deaths'

[RAV TUX]

US cat 'predicts patient deaths'
A US cat that is reportedly able to sense when a nursing home's residents are about to die is baffling doctors. Oscar has a habit of curling up next to patients at the home in Providence, Rhode Island, in their final hours.
According to the author of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the two-year-old cat has been observed to be correct in 25 cases so far.
Staff now alert the families of residents when he sits down next to their ailing loved one.
"He doesn't make many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," David Dosa, a professor at Brown University who carried out the research, told the Associated Press news agency.
'Premonitions'
Oscar was adopted as a kitten at Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/200/44021641oscarap203bez7.jpg

Cats often can sense when their owners are sick or when another animal is sick
Thomas Graves, feline expert
The cat is said to do his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses at the home, but is not generally friendly to patients.
Although most families are grateful for the warning Oscar seems to provide, some relatives ask that the pet be taken away while they say their last goodbyes to their loved ones.
When put outside the room, Oscar is said to pace up and down meowing in protest.
Thomas Graves, a feline expert from the University of Illinois, told the BBC: "Cats often can sense when their owners are sick or when another animal is sick.
"They can sense when the weather will change, they're famous for being sensitive to premonitions of earthquakes."
A doctor who treats patients at the home said she believed there was probably a biochemical explanation, rather than the cat being psychic.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6917113.stm

Published: 2007/07/26 10:32:34 GMT


I believe the cat has a "sixth sense".

[vambo]

And to think every one of us in the UK has to pay the salaries of people who come up with guff like this ](*,)

[starcraft.man]

Not here too... man I've seen this on way too many news stations. This isn't news. It's a cat, it sits on people's laps and they die. It's already been documented before this that animals are sensitive to ailments, like dogs to epilepsy... move on. >.>

[KiwiNZ]

Cats are evil

They are out to take over the planet. Their secret organisations are everywhere.
Their covert operations hit deep into all levels ove government.

Beware the feline menace is here :)

[~~Tito~~]

" I WANNA KIDEY!!!". I really want one. ;).

[Depressed Man]

It's not that baffling. Even before this story, my mom use to tell me about cats being able to do this back in Vietnam. She also has told me that there's a Chinese superstition. That and whenever a pet dies in the family at a younger age (when it shouldn't normally die) it does so to give up its life to have family member live a little bit longer.

And yes ~~Tito~~... I want a kitty too.

[tcpip4lyfe]

I want a cat as well so I know when Im going to die.

[RAV TUX]

Not here too... man I've seen this on way too many news stations. This isn't news. It's a cat, it sits on people's laps and they die. It's already been documented before this that animals are sensitive to ailments, like dogs to epilepsy... move on. >.>

Of course it's not news, it's pretty common knowledge....

It still makes for a great subject matter in a community thread. ;)

[KiwiNZ]

Of course it's not news, it's pretty common knowledge....

It still makes for a great subject matter in a community thread. ;)

Its all part of that evil Feline conspiracy ;)

[init1]

The cat isn't predicting deaths...
IT'S CAUSING THEM!:twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted: :twisted::twisted::twisted:

[KiwiNZ]

The cat isn't predicting deaths...
IT'S CAUSING THEM!:twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted:


Exactly :)

That stare , that evil peircing stare has something to do with it;)

[Sayers]

I think it's plausable...

[%hMa@?b<C]

im not so sure taht I want my kitty sitting on my lap anymore :(
/me doesnt want to die

[tcpip4lyfe]

This whole thing sounds like a good job for Mythbusters.

[hanzomon4]

Exactly :)

That stare , that evil peircing stare has something to do with it;)

:lolflag:

[RAV TUX]

Exactly :)

That stare , that evil peircing stare has something to do with it;)

The Cat is sucking the soul right of those people....The Cat is Death.

[steven8]

I have 3 cats, and don't feel souless at all. We love our cats.

[use a name]

You've been assimilated...

[smoker]

if it was a 'House' cat, it could maybe cure them!

http://www.fox.com/house/

:-)

[DoctorMO]

It's odd that the cat would do this, although any scientist would have to look at how many times to cat curled up next to someone who didn't die. how many times to cats curls up next to someone at all and how many people are resident there; add in the extra variable of what kind of morality rate the place has. so far the evidence is a little flaky.

[jgrabham]

Cats are evil

They are out to take over the planet. Their secret organisations are everywhere.
Their covert operations hit deep into all levels ove government.

Beware the feline menace is here :)

I knew it!!

Note to self, if that cat approches; shoot/stab/kick it to death :]

[helliewm]

Very seriously I have just inherited a cat from an elderly family friend who was terminally ill. The cat never left her side and was extremely distressed when she died. Her son immediately brought her over me. She did know me as she had been to stay when her owner was in hospital. I had know for some time that Mimi would be left to me. She immediately settled down and now just so incredibly happy. Yes I think animal know when their owners are seriously ill.

Helen

[Foxmike]

I want a cat as well so I know when Im going to die.
I do know exactly the date and time I am gonna die. The judge said it to me :D

[Tmi]

Too bad so many people think that things like this (sensing illness, epilepsy, earthquakes etc) is something associated with psychic/magic or whatever supernatural.

If it isn't some kind of coincidence it's reasonable to assume that it's some organ sensitive to certain chemical compounds or changes in for example the magnetic fields which I guess should happen before an earthquake due to the movements down in the earth.

More effort should be put into investigating these things that could potentially help in future early-warning systems.

[LaRoza]

It's odd that the cat would do this, although any scientist would have to look at how many times to cat curled up next to someone who didn't die. how many times to cats curls up next to someone at all and how many people are resident there; add in the extra variable of what kind of morality rate the place has. so far the evidence is a little flaky.
The cat is 2 years old, it grew up in the nursing home, over a period of 6 months, the behavior was observed, and there are 25 cases where he was right. The cat was described as "aloof" and not "friendly" in the paper, so I doubt it would get close to others.

The employees are probably the best ones to verify the accuracy of the cat, and if they call the family of the soon to be dead, they must have some faith in the cat.

Animals are sensitive to things that humans can't or don't sense.

(An animal, a parrot to be specific, could tell when someone was actually leaving the house as opposed to just standing up, and could not be fooled. The parrot said good-bye when someone was about to leave)

To all those blaming the cat for being a murderous beast or a satanic demon, I tend to hold such conclusions in reserve, until it is scientifically proven, like with a seance or something.

[RAV TUX]

Cats love me. ;)