A two-year old cat has apparently "predicted" the deaths of 25 residents in a nursing home (Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Rhode Island) in the US. Oscar will come and sometimes cuddle next to the dying patient two to four hours before the patient dies.
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."
Animal behaviour experts in the US say Oscar is probably smelling a chemical given off by the body. Also, dogs with an acute sense of smell and awareness are known to detect cancer and predict epileptic seizures.
It's interesting enough to me that cats have such an ability.. cos I haven't noticed my cat cuddling next to me when i'm sick! In fact, she hates being carried by me sometimes! Unfriendly cat lah!! hahaa.. But apparently this ability has been noticed by people all over the world.. just look at those comments left by them in the BBC website!!!
One of them says:
"Maybe the cat is going by biochemical signals and IS rewarded, by attention from the staff every time he gets it right? Another possible explanation would be that he is reverting to his wild state. In the wild he couldn't attack something the size of a person but if the person is dying the wild animal which detects that first is first in the queue for eating the body. Don't jackals etc gather long before someone is actually dead? At a less bloodthirsty level he might see people as a threat but very sick people don't have the energy to lash out while still being warm to cuddle up to. I have noticed that wild animals were much less fearful of me when I was ill and came closer. I assume this was because my movements were slower and more predictable. I looked less likely to attack them." -- Louise, Edinburgh
Arrrwwww! then i rather my cat not cuddle next to me.. lest she's feeling bloodthirsty!! =P
A two-year old cat has apparently "predicted" the deaths of 25 residents in a nursing home (Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Rhode Island) in the US. Oscar will come and sometimes cuddle next to the dying patient two to four hours before the patient dies.
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."
Animal behaviour experts in the US say Oscar is probably smelling a chemical given off by the body. Also, dogs with an acute sense of smell and awareness are known to detect cancer and predict epileptic seizures.
It's interesting enough to me that cats have such an ability.. cos I haven't noticed my cat cuddling next to me when i'm sick! In fact, she hates being carried by me sometimes! Unfriendly cat lah!! hahaa.. But apparently this ability has been noticed by people all over the world.. just look at those comments left by them in the BBC website!!!
One of them says:
"Maybe the cat is going by biochemical signals and IS rewarded, by attention from the staff every time he gets it right? Another possible explanation would be that he is reverting to his wild state. In the wild he couldn't attack something the size of a person but if the person is dying the wild animal which detects that first is first in the queue for eating the body. Don't jackals etc gather long before someone is actually dead? At a less bloodthirsty level he might see people as a threat but very sick people don't have the energy to lash out while still being warm to cuddle up to. I have noticed that wild animals were much less fearful of me when I was ill and came closer. I assume this was because my movements were slower and more predictable. I looked less likely to attack them." -- Louise, Edinburgh
Arrrwwww! then i rather my cat not cuddle next to me.. lest she's feeling bloodthirsty!! =P
Oscar the cat
