Comments on: Cat Predicts 50 Nursing Home Deaths

By: Seamus

Seamus — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:49:05 +0000

Vicki- ah, but the dart also discriminates among the balloons, and very accurately finds the one that is due to pop next.
Or to put it differently, in a setting with a high likelihood of a certain event happening, the chance of randomly picking the next occurrence of that event also becomes relatively high.
Not impugning the death-sensing capabilities of the cat, just pointing out other possible explanations, as Devon rightly does as well.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:19:59 +0000

Not quite Seamus. The cat apparently discriminates among the baloons and does so accurately.

By: Devon Herrick

Devon Herrick — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:02:17 +0000

Is the cat really antisocial? I’m struck by the thought that residents of the nursing home probably don’t exactly welcome the cat when it comes around, fearing they will be next. The only residents that don’t shoo it away are probably those too ill to resist and most likely to die. Thus, when the cat finds a warm spot next to a person who doesn’t resist, it lays down.

That reminds me of a recent study that found people who attend church regularly live longer. Of course, people at the highest risk of impending death are probably those too ill to attend church regularly.

By: Seamus

Seamus — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:17:58 +0000

Call me skeptical, but a cat predicting death in a nursing home is a bit like a blindfolded man throwing a dart in a roomful of balloons, you’re bound to hit something.

By: Virginia

Virginia — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:29:20 +0000

I think it’s interesting that the cat is antisocial unless the person is dying.

Perhaps the cat does not predict death. Perhaps it is the other way around… (que spooky music)

In which case, we have definitive proof that dogs are the better choice for those looking to increase longevity.

By: Larry C.

Larry C. — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:05:36 +0000

Well, if Oscar were in a hospital, the hospital could be alerted if a patient needed end-of-life emergency care.

Or, it could save on end-of-life expenses, if Oscar’s predictions are accurate, regardless of what doctors do.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:47:24 +0000

We should call this the “cat tip.”

By: Tom H.

Tom H. — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:44:38 +0000

There ought to be a way of making money off of a cat like that. Not sure how to do it though.