The strange story of Oscar, the therapy cat.

In 2005, a peculiar case emerged from a US nursing home, when Oscar, a six-month-old kitten, was introduced as a therapy cat.

Unlike typical therapy animals, Oscar demonstrated an uncanny ability to predict the imminent passing of residents. His penchant for solitude was interrupted by moments of profound connection when he would deliberately choose to lie beside specific individuals. Strangely enough, those chosen few died within a mere few hours.

At first, workers in the nursing home didn't notice anything weird, but after it happened 20 times, they started to found a link: Oscar clearly knew when someone would going to die.

The story of Oscar prompts a crucial question: can felines genuinely sense the approach of death in humans? While the scientific community is in the early stages of unraveling the mysteries behind such phenomena, preliminary findings suggest that animals might indeed pick up on subtle cues, such as changes in scent or behavior, that precede an individual's demise.

Oscar passed away in 2022 after being right about more than 100 deaths during his life.

Source:

Dosa, D. (2007). A Day in the Life of Oscar the Cat. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(4), 328-329. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp078108