Can Cats Predict Death? Is It a Coincidence or…In recent years, there have been many reports of cats seemingly predicting death. The most famous case involves a cat named Oscar, who lived in a nursing home in Rhode Island, USA. Oscar developed a peculiar habit: he would sit by the beds of residents who were close to death, often hours before they passed away. His ability to predict death fascinated both the staff and families, as he seemed to do this without fail. Is this just a coincidence, or is there something more mysterious happening?
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Do You Know the Cat That Can “Predict Death”?
Its name is Oscar, and it lived in a hospice care facility in the United States. Although Oscar looked no different from other cats on the outside, it became famous worldwide for a unique behavior—Oscar seemed to be able to “smell the scent of death.” Every day, Oscar would patrol the facility. If it lingered in front of a patient’s room for a long time, the nurses would start to worry that death was imminent within hours. The hospice staff would immediately contact the family, hoping they could say their final goodbyes. Oscar’s “death predictions” had occurred over a hundred times.On one sunny morning, Oscar stretched and began its daily patrol. This time, it stopped at the door of a room at the end of the hall. Inside, the elderly patient had reached the final stages of illness, clinging to life only with the help of a ventilator. The elderly woman’s daughter greeted Oscar warmly when she saw it, but Oscar ignored her and walked straight to the bed. Oscar sniffed the air around the patient for a moment before quietly leaving, casting one last glance at the woman as it exited the room. After witnessing this, both the nurse and the daughter felt a sense of relief.
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“It Seems, Not Today.”
Rita’s mother passed away in this very hospice. Before her mother’s death, the doctors had made several mistaken notifications, urging the family to prepare for the inevitable. Each time the doctors made a mistake, Oscar would enter and leave the room, seemingly “checking” the patient’s condition. But Oscar never stayed long; sometimes it would simply enter the room, sniff the woman’s feet, and then leave. On the day her mother passed away, Rita and her sister, who had been staying in the room, suddenly heard a distinct scratching sound on the wall: “Scratch, scratch, scratch…” The noise continued intermittently for an hour, until the nurse came in and asked Rita if she could leave the door open. Oscar had been outside, and the “scratching sound” had been Oscar trying to communicate from the other side of the wall, signaling it wanted to enter.Once Oscar entered the room, it jumped right to Rita’s mother’s feet, curling up in a ball with a contented expression on its face. Oscar fell asleep. Even when the nurse tried to change the bed sheets, Oscar’s hissing sounds drove them away. It stood its ground, raising its paw defensively. Rita said that Oscar never left her mother’s side until she passed away. When the funeral director came to move her mother, Oscar finally stood up, stretched, and slowly walked out of the room.By 2015, Oscar had correctly predicted the deaths of at least 100 patients. With its melancholy eyes, it silently observed the cycle of life and death. No one knows why Oscar was able to predict death, and there is no scientific explanation for it. Some scientists speculate that humans might release a specific scent before dying, one that cats can detect but humans cannot. Other animal experts believe that Oscar may have learned to stay in rooms where the atmosphere grew noticeably quiet, signaling impending death. Regardless of the cause, many families were deeply grateful to Oscar. Thanks to him, they were able to say goodbye to their loved ones in advance. Oscar became a kind of angel, accompanying the dying on their final journey.For this reason, the hospice even awarded Oscar a commemorative plaque: “In recognition of his compassionate end-of-life care, this plaque is awarded to Oscar the Cat.” Unfortunately, Oscar’s life came to an end on February 22, 2022. The angel who had comforted so many patients during their final moments had completed its mission in this world. At that inevitable, lonely moment, little Oscar’s gentle breathing drove away the fear and trembling, guiding people peacefully across to the other side.
Share this article and let more people know the story of Oscar the cat’s earthly redemption. Perhaps, whether a person lives or dies, comfort is both the reason and the cause, the foundation and the secret.
