Oscar, the cat that can tell when someone will die...?

Question

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6917113.stm
This news story has also been covered in various tabloids across the UK. This cat, called Oscar, apparently senses when a person at the dementia care home will die. He will then go and purr quietly and sit on their bed with them until they pass away. He has done this with a 100% success rate. Is this pure chance or does Oscar the Cat have some strange and mystical power that we are unaware of ?

Answer 1

I truly believe it. Animals are very intuitive, and can sense things that us Humans can't. However, the day I first read this story, I woke up with 2 of my cats staring at me! I thought I was dying!! LoL! I was a little skeeved at first!

Answer 2

Cats are sensitive animals; therefore I am not surprised that Oscar tunes into an individuals final hours. Animals can sense things long before they happen, and unless you have witnessed it, you cannot believe it. A friend of mine who lives and works in Tewksbury has a cat and she refused to go down stairs for three mornings before the house was flooded,and when the water started seeping in through the front door everybody realised the reason why. Consequently, they managed to get everything upstairs before they were inundated with river water. I have a cat too, and he always senses things long before I do-the telephone, the door bell, thunder storms, and if I am feeling unwell because I am a diabetic. He goes into the kitchen and miaows until I go in there, and then he goes and sits by the pantry door because he knows I must have something to eat and drink because my blood sugar levels are low. I also suffer from insomnia, and he knows I do, and he voluntary sleeps beside me in the knowledge that his hypnotic purr brings on a very good nights sleep.

Answer 3

I believe that it is due to a subtle change in the person's body odor. Oscar, whose sense of smell is far better developed than any human's, understands from the change in smell that the person will shortly pass out of this life. He has taken it upon himself to comfort them during their final hours so that they do not pass away alone.

Other theories say it is telepathy, which my long experience with cats tells me is highly possible. They definitely do seem to know things such as when their owners are coming home, even though the person is out of sight.

Some years ago when I was battling cancer my beloved Norwegian Forest cat, Teddy, spent all his time with me, taking only a few minutes out to eat and use the litter. He always stationed himself so that he could see my face and there were a number of occasions when the bedclothes fell over my face that he would carefully pull them away so that he could see my face.

A couple of times he patted me gently on the cheek as if to check that I was conscious. He avoided touching my abdomen (where I had had surgery) He kept vigil 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until he was sure that I was well on the road to recovery.

I believe their wonderful senses of smell and hearing allow them to pick up on things we miss but I do not discount some form of telepathy either, as I have seen many instances of cats apparently communicating without sound.

It is wonderful that Oscar understands the need to make sure that his human charges do not die alone. God works in mysterious ways!

Answer 4

I saw this on multiple news stations. They said that the cat has done this 20 something times with 100% accuracy. Just a few hours before the patient dies the cat goes in to be with them until they pass. I don't think this can be chance. We've always heard that animals have a sixth sense (whether it's weather, natural disasters, or sickness). This cat helps them have a peaceful passing.

Answer 5

I don't know if it strange or mysitical. I do know that when I was in severe pain from a ruptured disk in my neck, and painkillers were barely taking the edge off, my cat who was about a year old would climb on my chest each night and purr all night. After the surgery to correct this problem, she never did it again.

Scientists speculate that a cat's purr has a healing effect, since the frequencies produced have been shown to have healing effects on humans. They speculate that the purring can aid a sick or injured cat as well.

Chalk it up to empathy, if you want.

Answer 6

Cats are very clever animals, I don't think it some mystical power though. Cats are predators and often go for the weak or sick prey. How do they know they are weak and sick? I don't know but they do.

Also if I am upset or down, my cat always seems to be able to sense it and comes and makes a fuss.

I think it is wonderful that this cat is giving some people comfort in their last hours and also enabling the family to arrive before it is too late.

Answer 7

I read this and thought that it was very possible. They have an intuition which i think we lack, perhaps quite literally cat sense. I know that they have a sense when there own time is up, finding a place to go, curl up and pass away. Ive seen it so often, so i wouldn't rule this out. Mind you if i were the hospital i think i might find it a home elsewhere.

Answer 8

i think of it particularly is excellent and is yet another occasion of the recommendations-blowing senses of animals. I doubt it quite is a hoax as hoaxes do no longer frequently get printed interior the recent England magazine of drugs. and that i doubt the workers is exaggerating. If he had performed it 10 circumstances, they may well be exaggerating yet at 25, i might say they know what they are conversing approximately. this would be a large cat and that i think of the sufferers and their families are very fortunate to have this cat around. dropping a chum and not utilising a huge gamble to declare see you later is plenty extra devastating than dropping a chum and understanding it is going to happen. Been there, performed that.

Answer 9

yes I saw that story. Cats do sense when someone is unwell, and will often curl up with that person. I think it is by chance as people in the care home are on their last legs anyway so the probability of the cat being curled up to one that is going to die is pretty high.

Answer 10

Ive seen the pictures of that cat and it just freaks me out how he just sits next to someones room and waits..... If I was in that nursing home I would not want that cat near me.. but most people in that nursing home dont even remember or know what a cat is anymore so.. they have it lucky I guess. I think that the cat is picking up on chemical changes in the body that happen right before a person dies but who knows.. maybe its the grim reapers pet.