Oscar  (photo: Stew Milne / AP Photo)

About a year and a half ago, there was a bit of hoo-ha in the media about Oscar.  You may have heard about him, but in case you didn’t, I thought I’d share this story with you because it seems that we have quite a few animal lovers out there.

Oscar is a cat who lives in a hospice (a nursing home).  His claim to fame is that he seems to know which patients are about to die.  Everyday, he makes his rounds through the hospice, walking into rooms, checking things out, and if he finds someone that he thinks is about to leave this earth, he curls up by the patient and stays there, purring and nuzzling, until the person passes away.

Oscar was adopted by the staff, who started noticing his ability when he was about 6 months old.  By the time this article was written by one of the doctors, Oscar was 2 years old and had presided over the deaths of 25 patients.  According to Dr. Dosa, who wrote the article, Oscar had been at each and every death that occurred in the hospice in one way or another.  Even on the few occasions when the family didn’t want Oscar in the room, he was never far away.

The most common theory is that Oscar can detect some sort of scent released by people who are about to die, perhaps some sort of pheromone that human beings can’t detect.

Some have voiced concern that maybe the people are dying BECAUSE they see Oscar – that is, they think Oscar is the Grim Reaper of some sort and he literally scares them to death.  But Dr. Dosa says that such concerns are unwarranted because the nursing home where Oscar lives is an end-care facility…that by the time patients are approaching death (even long before that), they are unaware of or incapable of processing what is happening around them.

Instead, many show appreciation for Oscar’s ability.  He was even awarded a plaque for his end-of-life care.  People say he brings comfort to those who are about to die by keeping them company.  In addition, by settling down next to a patient, he alerts the staff and gives them time to call the patient’s loved ones to let them know that the time is near.

So what do all of you think?  Thumbs up or down for Oscar?  Have you heard of or know about other animals with similar abilities?

If you’re interested, you can also read an interview with Dr. Dosa, who answers a bunch of questions from readers about Oscar.