Sometimes I get curious about what lies below the fold on some the less traveled pages of the CBC website.  I found this:

“The scientist in Dr. David Dosa was skeptical when first told that Oscar, an aloof cat kept by a nursing home, regularly predicted patients’ deaths by snuggling alongside them in their final hours.

But his doubts eroded after he and his colleagues tallied about 50 correct calls made by Oscar over five years.”

The article goes on:

“After a year, the staff noticed that Oscar would spend his days pacing from room to room. He sniffed and looked at the patients but rarely spent much time with anyone — except when they had just hours to live.

He’s accurate enough that the staff — including Dosa — know it’s time to call family members when Oscar stretches beside their patients, who are generally too ill to notice his presence. If kept outside the room of a dying patient, he’ll scratch at doors and walls, trying to get in.”

The cat is the bringer of death.  Seems sort of fitting for a kitteh :)