Story oscar cat periodically appears on social networks, despite the fact that the animal died in 2022. During the years of living in an American nursing home, he gained great fame, as he allegedly had the ability to predict death. He was a sullen cat who usually didn’t like human interaction. However, from time to time he chose one of the residents’ rooms to take a nap. What soon caught the attention of those in charge of the center was that he did not seem to be choosing rooms at random; Well, soon after that the tenant died.
Such was the success of Oscar the cat, whom the residence workers began to call relatives of residents those that the animal decided to take a nap. This way they could say goodbye in time. The family members were grateful for the gesture as it gave them an opportunity they would not have had otherwise. These were all advantages.
One of the doctors at the nursing home. David Dosapublished in New England Journal of Medicine article from 2007, when Oscar the cat already predicted death 25 people. However, after this it is assumed that he foresaw death more than 50 inhabitants. The publication of the article brought him great fame, bringing him to the front pages of media around the world. Now, which is logical, at this time there were many skeptics about the animal’s abilities. How did he do it? Wouldn’t this just be a coincidence? We can’t know, but let’s see if Oscar could actually predict death.
The role of smell in identifying diseases
In fact, Oscar the cat is not the first animal to be able to detect something related to disease. A lot of dogs They were trained to detect diseases such as cancer and diabetes, and they did this by smell.
All human cells undergo chemical reactions to produce energy or substances necessary for their proper functioning. The set of these reactions is called metabolism and it can vary from one person to another, especially if certain medical conditions are present. During these reactions some Volatile compounds. That is, substances in a gaseous state that pass into the air through breath. They can even escape through fluids such as sweat.
These compounds have an odor that usually goes unnoticed by humans. However, other animals with a very keen sense of smell, such as dogs, can be trained to detect them and distinguish odors. metabolic profile healthy person and sick person.
Cases of the disease have even occurred in humans, although this is very rare. The best-documented case is that of Joy Milne, a Scottish woman who warned for years that her husband’s sweat smelled different. He did this many years before he was diagnosed: Parkinson’s diseasewhich confirmed that she is capable of smell disease. By the time he was diagnosed, it was too late, but since then Joy has been helping scientists discover compounds that can help diagnose Parkinson’s disease long before symptoms appear.
The Case of Oscar the Cat
Scientists who support Oscar the cat’s predictions believe his case may be similar to Joy’s or trained dogs. Perhaps the animal had an excellent sense of smell that detected something in the air. But what?
In 2016, palliative care specialist Peter Shavarsky wrote an article in which he questioned the abilities of Oscar the cat. He noted that the employees of the center where he lived had to buy Mass spectrometer detect volatile compounds in the air that the animal has somehow sniffed. This way they could check if something was actually happening.
It should be noted that this center housed elderly people with a variety of illnesses. Although most had Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseasethere were other pathologies, such as cancer. Consequently, the diversity of volatile compounds resulting from its metabolism will be very large. What could be unique about death? Something related to apoptosis or cell death? Some scientists are betting on ketones, which can accumulate in cases of diabetic acidosis or sepsis. But you can’t know for sure. The ideal would be to act as Shawarsky explains. However, the center’s medical staff allow their intuition to guide them.
In fact, in his 2007 article, Dosa says that a cat would sometimes enter the room of a very sick patient. he smelled it and left. His time has not yet come. That was his argument that it wasn’t really a coincidence. Proof that the cat knew what he was doing. But other than this there is no evidence.
Offset confirmation
Detractors of Oscar the cat’s ability to predict choose Offset confirmation. That is, attention was paid only to cases that actually ended in the death of the resident. After all, they were all very sick and the chances of success were high.
There are also animal behavior experts who believe that perhaps the near-death occupants were heating the room to make them more comfortable, which in some way attracted the cat’s attention. The worst thing is that we will never be able to find out, because Oscar died in February 2022.. This was the end of his protection. Now we can only guess. One thing is clear: either by science or by chance, it accompanied many people at the time of their death. Here’s what we should take away from this story.
Source: Hiper Textual
