July 30, 2007

A very special cat

T.S. Eliot wrote Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, a series of poems about the sociology and pshychology of cats, which later turned into the famous musical Cats; Ernest Hemingway had a number of polydactyl cats in his Key West home. But the feline that has really made the headlines in the past few days is Oscar, who seems to be able to know when terminally-ill patients are going to die, and keeps them company in their final moments.

The story itself would be interesting to most people, but it also called the attention of editors of The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most (if not the most) prestigious medical publication. Here's the doctor's account of a day in the life of Oscar the cat. What do you think: is it really just a coincidence or does Oscar possess a special gift?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is not a big surprise, some dogs can smell a person and detect if he has cancer. Animals are incredible and Oscar is amazing!
Lorena (BA)

Felipe said...

It's amazing how sensitive can be an animal.

Mônica said...

Yes, and it's interesting to see that the doctors are taking it seriously... Not very long ago, the poor cat would have been considered a bad omen! Nice change!