Hospice cat comforts the dying in their final hours

Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting whennursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to themduring their final hours.  His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call familymembers once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have lessthan four hours to live.  Oscar, a pet at Steere House nursing home in Providence, R.I., seem to be able to predict who will die. ”He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He seems to understand whenpatients are about to die,” said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. Hedescribes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday’s issue of theNew England Journal of Medicine.  ”Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate thecompanionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one,” saidDosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at BrownUniversity.

Read more in the Chicago Sun-Times, http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/484570,CST-NWS-death26.article