死神找誰 靈貓預知 美聯社 美國羅德島州一家安養院的兩歲雄貓「奧斯卡」天賦異能，牠坐到一位院民身邊或床邊，那位院民通常四小時內去世。牠預警絕少失誤，已25次展現異稟，比醫師還準，看護只要看見牠擇人而陪，立即通知家屬來院共度最後一刻。

When death comes calling, so does Oscar the cat

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- Oscar the cat seems to have
an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to
die, by curling up next to them during their final hours.

Oscar the cat doesn't like to be put out in the hall when a patient is dying.

His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family
members once he has chosen someone. It usually means the patient has
less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many
mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," Dr.
David Dosa said in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a
poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine.

"Many family members take some solace from it. They
appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying
loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of
medicine at Brown University.

The 2-year-old feline was adopted
as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere
House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people
with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.

After
about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds,
just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then
sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa
said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof.
"This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there,
said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the
nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill

She
was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call.
While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't
eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish
tinge, signs that often mean death is near.

Oscar wouldn't stay
inside the room, though, so Teno thought his streak was broken.
Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too
early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told
Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.

死前十小時，腿上已現屍斑，可死神未來，Oscar 不為所動。

Doctors say
most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white
cat are so ill they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't
aware he's a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the
advance warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a
family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his
displeasure.

No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.

Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts
University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa's article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying.

If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it's also possible his behavior
could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed
on a dying person, Dodman said.

Nursing home staffers aren't
concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better
chance at saying goodbye to the dying.