Mystical Animals
There are anecdotal stories from fond pet owners of dogs somehow knowing precisely when their humans will be walking through the door; they become alert at around the time their human companion leaves his/her place of employment, stationing themselves beside the door to welcome them home. Some sixth-sense of time, place and expectation: who knows?
There are stories of cats somehow surviving falls from impossible heights. Human beings and canines can, depending on where and how they fall, survive a fall from as high as six stories. Felines, on the other hand, can somehow alter the velocity of their fall, and some cats have survived falls from 32-story-heights.
Both of which events cause most rational people to suspend judgement. Seeing is believe, and few of us will ever have the opportunity to actually witness such things. There are dogs capable of sniffing out cancer in people who are not even aware they have cancer. Other dogs capable of discerning danger when human companions cannot.
And now a book, Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat brings us a new kind of mysterious empathetic bond between humankind and domesticated animals. One would have to take exception, however, to the author, geriatrician Dr. David Dosa's contention that Oscar is an ordinary cat.
Oscar is a tortoiseshell-and-white cat adopted while yet a kitten, at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Providence, Rhode Island. This facility specializes in the care of people with severe dementia. It's well enough known how compatible animal presence is for humans, somehow conferring a sense of peace by their presence.
Oscar has proven adept at somehow identifying which patient is very close to death, even when that patient's imminent departure from life is not clear to either the nursing staff nor the doctors in attendance. And when Oscar detects that penultimate moment in someone's life, he attends to them, giving comfort until the appearance of the Grim Reaper.
"It's not like he dawdles. He'll slip out for two minutes, grab some kibble and then he's back at the patient's side. It's like he's on a vigil", wrote Dr. Dosa. Speculating that this very special cat is somehow capable of detecting chemical alterations that accompany death. In the five years Oscar has lived at this nursing home he has involved himself with 50 cases.
"People were actually taking great comfort in this idea, that this animal was there and might be there when their loved ones eventually pass. He was there when they couldn't be", said Dr. Dosa.
There are stories of cats somehow surviving falls from impossible heights. Human beings and canines can, depending on where and how they fall, survive a fall from as high as six stories. Felines, on the other hand, can somehow alter the velocity of their fall, and some cats have survived falls from 32-story-heights.
Both of which events cause most rational people to suspend judgement. Seeing is believe, and few of us will ever have the opportunity to actually witness such things. There are dogs capable of sniffing out cancer in people who are not even aware they have cancer. Other dogs capable of discerning danger when human companions cannot.
And now a book, Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat brings us a new kind of mysterious empathetic bond between humankind and domesticated animals. One would have to take exception, however, to the author, geriatrician Dr. David Dosa's contention that Oscar is an ordinary cat.
Oscar is a tortoiseshell-and-white cat adopted while yet a kitten, at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Providence, Rhode Island. This facility specializes in the care of people with severe dementia. It's well enough known how compatible animal presence is for humans, somehow conferring a sense of peace by their presence.
Oscar has proven adept at somehow identifying which patient is very close to death, even when that patient's imminent departure from life is not clear to either the nursing staff nor the doctors in attendance. And when Oscar detects that penultimate moment in someone's life, he attends to them, giving comfort until the appearance of the Grim Reaper.
"It's not like he dawdles. He'll slip out for two minutes, grab some kibble and then he's back at the patient's side. It's like he's on a vigil", wrote Dr. Dosa. Speculating that this very special cat is somehow capable of detecting chemical alterations that accompany death. In the five years Oscar has lived at this nursing home he has involved himself with 50 cases.
"People were actually taking great comfort in this idea, that this animal was there and might be there when their loved ones eventually pass. He was there when they couldn't be", said Dr. Dosa.
Labels: Animal Stories, Human Relations, Peculiarities
posted by Pieface @ 6:40 PM
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