12-13-2018, 05:37 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-14-2018, 03:52 PM by ZpaceJ0ck0.)
Do you recognize this little guy?
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQi7KoV0pdirlzt_Q2eHgj...utrh9uGJaQ]](https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQi7KoV0pdirlzt_Q2eHgjflz8Q-eNvx7B7H3RwNnwz7DfaB5jWutrh9uGJaQ)
No? Well, his name is Oscar, a cat living in the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A since 2005. He rose to fame back in 2007 not because he was particularly nice to people (Oscar is actually quite aloof most of the time) but rather because of his ability of predicting the dead of the patients of the nursing home.
His modus operandi consists of patroling the rooms in the dementia unit, he would take a peek at certain patient, if s/he was OK, he would leave, but if the patient was about to die, Oscar would nap next to said patient a few hours before they die. As of 2015, he has predicted up to more than 100 deaths, and he was always right. Always. He never misses.
A popular hypothesis for this phenomenon is that Oscar is picking up on the lack of movement in such patients and/or that he can smell biochemicals released by dying cells. IF this is something all cats and dogs can do, then it could mean that the reason he became famous specifically for doing that is because of one thing: opportunity— a home where he can put these skills to use.
Oscar became so famous in fact that he was featured in Stephen King's Doctor Sleep (a sequel to The Shining). Well, sort of. In the story, a grown-up Dan Torrance is aided at a hospice by a prescient cat who can sense when people are about to die. The source of inspiration is more than obvious on this one.
SOURCES:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop...-home.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news...00-5365056
https://web.archive.org/web/201302050647...p-preview/ (doctor sleep)
No? Well, his name is Oscar, a cat living in the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A since 2005. He rose to fame back in 2007 not because he was particularly nice to people (Oscar is actually quite aloof most of the time) but rather because of his ability of predicting the dead of the patients of the nursing home.
His modus operandi consists of patroling the rooms in the dementia unit, he would take a peek at certain patient, if s/he was OK, he would leave, but if the patient was about to die, Oscar would nap next to said patient a few hours before they die. As of 2015, he has predicted up to more than 100 deaths, and he was always right. Always. He never misses.
A popular hypothesis for this phenomenon is that Oscar is picking up on the lack of movement in such patients and/or that he can smell biochemicals released by dying cells. IF this is something all cats and dogs can do, then it could mean that the reason he became famous specifically for doing that is because of one thing: opportunity— a home where he can put these skills to use.
Oscar became so famous in fact that he was featured in Stephen King's Doctor Sleep (a sequel to The Shining). Well, sort of. In the story, a grown-up Dan Torrance is aided at a hospice by a prescient cat who can sense when people are about to die. The source of inspiration is more than obvious on this one.
SOURCES:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop...-home.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news...00-5365056
https://web.archive.org/web/201302050647...p-preview/ (doctor sleep)