Uncanny Kitty Senses Patients' Death

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But Oscar has changed all that, allowing family members to gain a better sense of exactly when a loved one will pass on. "With him around, it's been much easier, because when he starts to mill around, we know that it's imminent," Dosa said.

The furry visitor also seems to know when life's final phase is over, leaving the patient's side soon after death.

Recognizing his unique gift, a local hospice agency has even placed a plaque on the ward's wall that reads, "For his compassionate hospice care, this plaque is awarded to Oscar the Cat."

An animal's uncanny ability to sense things humans cannot is well-documented. "I've heard of animals recognizing infection and cancer, bringing them to their owner's attention," Dosa said. "I know that they use animals for earthquake prediction in Japan."

Oscar's prescience doesn't come as any surprise to Jennifer Arnold, executive director of Canine Assistants, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based dog-training center. Her facility trains retrievers and other canines to accurately sense and warn a human companion of the onset of epileptic seizure.

"Some of our dogs have 100 percent accuracy in predicting the onset of seizures in people," Arnold said, and this ability does not seem to depend on any clue the average human might ever detect.

When a seizure is imminent, dogs begin to act out, licking the human's hand, or even gently sitting on top of them to help prevent seizure-related injury.

How do they sense seizure? Again, the answer to that is unclear, although a study performed last year seemed to rule out electrical changes in the brain, Arnold said. That probably narrows it down to the dogs' incredible sense of smell, she said.

Dosa, who is also an assistant professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, said theories also abound as to how Oscar understands the approach of death, but he favors the smell hypothesis, too.

"Perhaps he's sensing a pheromone that might be released [before death] that we don't smell," he said.

For Arnold, the lesson from these types of cases is clear.

"Surely, this shows people that we do have so much to learn from animals," she said. "They seem to reach parts of us that other humans have a very hard time reaching. I can certainly believe that that cat gives great comfort."

More information

There's more on dementia at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.