Oscar the Cat Kept Vigil on a Hospice Floor

The story

Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence had a cat named Oscar. He made his own rounds. Again and again he curled beside residents who were close to dying.

Doctors wrote about him in the New England Journal of Medicine because the pattern was hard to ignore. Families found comfort in an animal that would not leave.

What happened next

Oscar did not fix death. He made the room less abandoned. That is a form of care hospitals sometimes forget they can still offer.

A lesson you can use this week

Sit with someone who is declining. Bring nothing clever. Stay until the next shift arrives.

Sources

David M. Dosa, M.D., “A Day in the Life of Oscar the Cat,” New England Journal of Medicine, 2007; later reporting by NPR and the New York Times.