Name: Sandra Crawford
E-mail: Private
Date posted: January 31, 2010 - 03:09 pm
Message: I am not surprised that Oscar knew impending death. When my mother was in a nursing home suffering from a stroke a few years ago, there were 2 cats who regularly visited patients. They would enter her room but never jumped on her bed until the night she died. One cat lay by her legs then left after she died. I had never seen anything like that, but the nurse said it was common. My husband died a year ago suddenly collapsing, and our cat tried to wake him by pawing at him.

Name: Mary Lou Comlin
E-mail: maryleelou@yahoo.com
Date posted: January 23, 2010 - 12:42 pm
Message: I am a hospice social worker. I visit an elderly woman who adopted a kitten a couple of years ago. He was only 4 months old when she had a stroke in her bathroom and fell to the floor. He stayed by her head to comfort and guard her. He never left her side. When the paramedics came in, the cat would not let them touch his friend. The cat growled and hissed and struck out at anyone wanting to get closer to her.

He's a beautiful boy -- also a Tabby. He continues to guard and protect her. When the woman has visitors, the cat sits or stands on her bed and stares at them -- always watchful.

The woman is usually on her side in bed. At one of my first visits, the cat stood with his front paws on her hip and glared at me until he felt certain I was not there to harm her. He is always by her side unless he visits the litter box or goes to the kitchen to eat. All she has to do is say "meow" and he runs back to her bed. I've never met a cat quite like him. He and I are slowly getting to know one another. The catnip toy helped a bit. His friend said he expects a treat from me every time I stop by. :)

One of my first hospice patient had a young female cat (6 months or less) that stayed by her side whenever she was awake. The woman's daughter was in the bathroom when the woman took her last breath and the cat scratched at the door and cried to get the daughter's attention.