'Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat.' - story w/pics

[Kadie]

'Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat.'


In this July 23, 2007 file photo, Oscar, a hospice cat with an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, walks past an activity room at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, R.I. Dr. David Dosa profiles Oscar in a book released this week, 'Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat.'
(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Stew Milne, File)


Book profiles furry angel of death: Oscar the cat
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer Ray Henry, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 31, 10:23 am ET

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The scientist in Dr. David Dosa was skeptical when first told that Oscar, an aloof cat kept by a nursing home, regularly predicted patients' deaths by snuggling alongside them in their final hours.

Dosa's doubts eroded after he and his colleagues tallied about 50 correct calls made by Oscar over five years, a process he explains in a book released this week, "Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat." (Hyperion, $23.99) The feline's bizarre talent astounds Dosa, but he finds Oscar's real worth in his fierce insistence on being present when others turn away from life's most uncomfortable topic: death.

"People actually were taking great comfort in this idea, that this animal was there and might be there when their loved ones eventually pass," Dosa said. "He was there when they couldn't be."

Dosa, 37, a geriatrician and professor at Brown University, works on the third floor of the Steere House, which treats patients with severe dementia. It's usually the last stop for people so ill they cannot speak, recognize their spouses and spend their days lost in fragments of memory.

He once feared that families would be horrified by the furry grim reaper, especially after Dosa made Oscar famous in a 2007 essay in the New England Journal of Medicine. Instead, he says many caregivers consider Oscar a comforting presence, and some have praised him in newspaper death notices and eulogies.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100131/ap_on_re_us/us_death_cat_doctor_2



FILE - In this July 23, 2007 file photo, Oscar, a hospice cat with an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, sits outside a patient's room at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, R.I. Dr. David Dosa profiles Oscar in a book released this week, 'Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat.'
(AP Photo/Stew Milne, File)

[Sanity Claws]

1. Is Oscar still on duty?

I remember when this story came out 2.5 years ago. I wonder whether Oscar is still working as a hospice cat. I'd like to hear some new stories about him.

[Submariner]

2. Oscar was profiled on TV and it this kitty was extraordinary

[left coaster]

3. Too bad the phrase "angel of death" is used here..

I think it only serves to perpetuate the outdated ignorant notion that cats are somehow evil and that they kill humans.. Domestic cats and dogs have been known to possess the precognition to sense imminent death.. but they don't cause it.

Oscar, like pets often are, is a comfort to those in the process of dying.

[demigoddess]

4. We had a cat we called a healer cat. He always tried to sit on a part of our

bodies that was hurt or in pain. When my eye was operated on he tried to sit on my face. Perhaps Oscar is trying to comfort or heal those patients. Or make the humans do something for the patient.

[Lorien]

7. There's a reason for that:

http://cats.suite101.com/article.cfm/purring_helps_with_healing

[Carni]

5. Cool story BUT...

How'd you like to see him coming at you to snuggle for the night? ACK!

[Lorien]

6. Not all that extraordinary. A news program (20/20?) profiled an orange domestic

short hair at a nursing home about 15 years ago that had the same talent. It was part of a piece about "the healing power of pets". The orange kitty was sociable and outgoing and loved by all the residents, but they knew that if he stayed curled up on one person's bed for more than a day or two it was time to call the family. That kitty predicted a person's passing 3-5 days in advance, which really helped to ensure that family would make it to the side of their loved one in time to say their goodbyes.

[Zoeisright]

8. Cats are so wonderful.

And so are dogs.

[northofdenali]

9. My father-in-law died here at home in 2007.

His two kitties did not leave his side, except for food/potty/water (all in-room) for 2 days. He had end-stage Alzheimers, and his loss still hurts. His kitties now live with us, and are always there if you're blue, sick, downhearted - what an amazing species this is.

I couldn't live without my 7 "babies".

Thank you, Oscar. Cats are a gift from on high.