Steere House's Oscar the Cat

You may have heard of Steere House's famous cat, Oscar when he made headlines in 2007.  Oscar was featured in an article by Dr. David Dosa which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.  In the article, Dr. Dosa described how Oscar has demonstrated an ability to detect a patient's impending death and how in doing so, he is able to provide a touch of comfort to the dying, elderly residents of Steere House's Safe Haven Advanced Care unit and their families who are dealing with the latter stages of Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of end-stage dementia.

At Steere House, we believe in the therapeutic benefits of animal companionship.  Throughout the years, Steere House has been home to a variety of animals, including a number of cats, parakeets, a floppy-eared bunny and several regular canine visitors, who all help to make the presence of animals and their comfort benefits a way of life at Steere House. 

Oscar's story is unique.  Now five years old, Oscar still lives on the third floor unit where he continues to play an invaluable role in patients' end of life care.  Oscar will be featured in a new book being released February 2010,  Making Rounds with Oscar - The Extraordinary Gift from an Ordinary Cat.  

Click here to learn more about the book.

To learn more about Oscar, read on:

Oscar is a tabby cat who resides on the third floor of the Steere House Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Adopted by the nursing home as a kitten, Oscar has lived his entire life on the 41-bed advanced dementia unit.   Though much of his first year on the unit was nondescript, Oscar suddenly began making visits to residents on the third floor shortly before his first birthday. His visits originally went unnoticed, but family members and staff began to realize that Oscar’s appearances coincided with the deaths of terminal patients there. While the passing of some residents was not unexpected due to their advanced condition, Oscar’s visits proved to coincide remarkably with a resident’s final hours.  Otherwise he was nowhere to be found.  On several occasions over the next year, Oscar seemed to be the first “health care provider” on the floor to realize that a resident was about to die.

In time, staff at the nursing home began to rely on Oscar as an “early warning system,” announcing to those present that it was time to notify family and increase hospice services for those close to death. For his service to his patients, a local Hospice organization even awarded Oscar with their annual “Hospice Champion” award. When Dr. Dosa’s essay was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Oscar’s story made international headlines. For several days, “Oscar the cat” was the most widely searched term on several web search engines. 

These days, Oscar continues to patrol the halls of Steere House’s third floor dementia unit.  Though at times, he has been caught sleeping on the job, Oscar continues to hold vigils for departing patients--mostly to the delight of family members struggling to deal with the death of their loved ones. He continues to be mentioned routinely in obituaries and during funeral services.

- Author David Dosa, M.D.

Click here to read Dr. Dosa's original essay in the New England Journal of Medicine.

To see more pictures of Oscar, click here.