Oscar the Death Cat
Friday, July 27th, 2007The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine recently published an eloquently written article by Dr. David Dosa about Oscar the Cat, Steere House Nursing Center’s own precognitive feline mortician.
According to the article, “Oscar the Cat has had an uncanny ability to predict when residents are about to die. Thus far, he has presided over the deaths of more than 25 residents on the third floor of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island. His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death, allowing staff members to adequately notify families.”
Local and even international news immediately picked up the article. Talking heads in the Boston area couldn’t decide whether Oscar was a whiskered “Angel of Mercy”, or a “Kitty Kavorkian”. Was Oscar a harbinger of things to come, or somehow Death’s furry little pawed purveyor?
The general consensus was this: No one wanted Oscar curling up on their bed. Though, personally, I found the news of Oscar comforting.
And familiar.
I have witnessed but one death in my life, tragically recent. I remember the moment, that moment of passing: A palpable instant delineating being.. and then not. I remember the profound sorrow, the sudden collective sense of letting go. I remember the low murmur of love and support, and then the sudden, stunned — sacred — silence from the gathered.
And I will never forget the sound of that silence punctuated by a distant, sorrowful howl from a stoic five-year-old coon hound. Rescued from the pound years before, he has been a great companion and loving family friend.
And at that moment , somehow, from outside the home of our gathered vigil… he knew.
No one had ever before heard that howl.
And perhaps no one ever will again.
