Cats that Live in Nursing Homes Around the Country

Recently the big news online was of Oscar, a cat that predicts death by curling up on a bed near a resident. Yes, I can honestly say this is a fact, although I have never met Oscar. I have met the cats that live in the nursing home where I have worked for a long time. Here a cat predicts death by curling up on a bed near a resident as well. In fact, we have five cats that predict death.

Oscar has nothing on Sammy, Autumn, Cleo, Tiger, and Cassie. The only difference with the six felines above is five of them live in the nursing home where I work and Oscar lives in a different nursing home. All six of the cats have the love of countless residents, staff, and family members.

Cassie by far is the best predictor of death, simply because she lives on the oxygen unit where the sickest people are. On any given week, there are at least two deaths on this unit or very narrow escapes with death. Some weeks such as during the holiday season, or when the air is very hot and humid Cassie is very busy indeed.

Autumn that lives on third floor and Sammy who lives on fourth floor, do their fare share of accurate predicting of death but since they live on the units which death rarely occurs they rarely play the role of the grim reaper. Third and floor floors usually hold those folks who can no longer walk, but still have a lot of living to do on some level. Autumn and Sammy are very busy during flu season and around the holidays with their dire predictions of death.

Tiger who lives on the locked unit known as North Unit rarely gets to predict death, but does on occasionally. North Unit is for those residents who have Alzheimer's, dementia, or other brain rotting diseases, which means constant attention is required. These residents are up and walking very much, but would not be safe wandering around by themselves at all. Some of these people are child like which Tiger runs away from them. He very much hates to be held or petted. He can be found sleeping in rooms under the beds, in hiding. When he bed sits, you know the end is near.

Cleo is our resident cat that most everyone who enters the building meets. Cleo is a very friendly cat who ventures in the main lobby, administration area, activity rooms, physical therapy, and south unit areas of our building. South Unit is a rehabilitation unit, which was recently re-opened. In its two months of reopening, they have had a death and Cleo accurately predicted that death. The staff on that unit though she was way off the mark at first when she begin sitting in the final hour. The woman seemed fine, but a massive heart attack has to happen and no one had a clue but Cleo. The death was very much unexpected and occurred very quickly that no one could have guessed this one was coming. However, Cleo knew which made her the top in our facility as far as predictors go. She is one for one, which is a perfect 100.

The cats all live a life style that is above what ordinarily a cat's lifestyle. These cats are therapy cats, which help the residents in many ways and make the nursing home seem more life home to the residents. The cats get plenty of attention, treats and everything else they ever need.

This means they do have an extended family of not only the residents, but staff as well. There are treats galore for each cat from everyone who either lives or works there. They seem to enjoy the different kinds of treats they get from their multiple owners.

They have a huge quantity of toys and plenty of warms areas of sunlight to sleep and there is not shortage of chairs to curl up on. You would think these cats would curl up on more beds but rarely do you see a cat lying on a bed. It is not that staff or residents chase them off; these cats seem to know that lying on a bed only occurs in the final hours before death. Here a cat predicts death by curling up on a bed near a resident.

Cassie, Autumn, Sammy, Cleo, and Tiger live in Upstate New York with many birds, three dogs, and a chinchilla that make up this nursing homes Eden project. The Eden project was created to help nursing homes feel more like a home rather then a typical nursing home. The cats are taken care of by the activities staff that clean litter boxes and make sure there are plenty of food and water bowls around. The nursing home does not provide the treats, which are plentiful, but residents, staff, and visitors make sure the animals have plenty of treats, toys, and love.