Who would’ve thought that the Grim Reaper would come in the guise of a cuddly kitty? I had always assumed that Death would more closely resemble a strung-out Nick Nolte or Dick Cheney. Who knew? Apparently, as reported by the Associated Press (here via the Boston Globe), some staff at a Rhode Island nursing home did:

Oscar the cat predicts patients’ deaths

PROVIDENCE, R.I. –Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

“He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one,” said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.

The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He’d sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. “This is not a cat that’s friendly to people,” he said.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. [full text]

Gee, I wonder if there’s any truth to the rumor that Dr. Teno was subsequently laid off and replaced by Oscar. Or that the prescient feline was seen lurking in front of a television airing Alberto Gonzales’ recent testimony before Congress. Freaky!