Oscar the cat comforts terminally ill patients
USA – Ten-year-old Oscar has been comforting patients in their dying days at Steere House Nursing centre since he was a kitten. Staff and doctors at the Rhode Island centre are baffled by Oscar’s natural ability to seek out the dying and offer them much-needed comfort and support.
His gift was first revealed in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007 and since then he is believed to have presided over the deaths of around 100 people.
The author of the report, Dr David Dosa told Mirror Online: “He only comes to the ‘end of life’ patients who are near death, I think he is attracted in some capacity to them.
He wrote in the report: “His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death, allowing staff members to adequately notify families.”
“Whether it’s just cuddling up to people who are alone or keeping children busy, it’s really something that the families were grateful and thankful for.”
Oscar the cat at Steere House Nursing Home
The tables turned in November 2013 when Oscar suffered a serious allergic reaction and he was taken into intensive care, where his heart stopped beating and he died for several seconds.
But luckily, quick-thinking vets managed to revive him and he was taken back to the nursing home where he became a patient for a few months.
These days Oscar is back to full fitness and has resumed his role comforting patients near the end of their lives.
Dr Dosa added: “Oscar is doing well and still comforts patients from time to time. He is a real miracle.”
You can donate to help staff and patients at Steere House nursing home here.
Originally published by the Mirror Online, author David Raven.
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