Way to Go, Oscar

This isn't exactly the "yeah, it's February post" I had in mind, but when I read about this in our newspaper this morning, I thought it was pretty amazing.

A cat that predicts when the residents of the hospice care facility in which it lives will die. So accurate, in fact, that nurses know to call relatives alerting them that their loved ones will probably be passing away within hours. If denied entry into the patient's room, the cat will cry and scratch at the doors/walls to gain entry - and once it does, it curls up right next to the patient and stays with him/her until it's time.

My parents both have extraordinary relationships with animals - and I've grown up considering them to be more than just pets - or wildlife, but capable of enriching our lives tremendously. There's a reason God was so adamant about instructing Noah so carefully on how to save them all (species-wise). I've heard it said that having a beloved pet in someone's life is better than any multi-vitamin - or prescription one could be given, it really can make that big of a difference.

So, kudos to "Oscar the cat" in Rhode Island today. What a talent that cat has, and a unique gift to offer extraordinary comfort in a person's last hours, when even our own human nature would not naturally guide us to do the same.