Oscar the cat predicts death

[Andrew B.]

And this is not from the last issue of World News. It's from major press sources.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/25/death.cat.ap/index.html

[Judy G. Russell]

And this is not from the last issue of World News. It's from major press sources.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/25/death.cat.ap/index.htmlI saw that and frankly wasn't surprised. They don't call 'em "cat scans" for nothin'!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Seriously, I think animals are very much attuned to the condition of those around them, and not solely by reading body language and the like.

[Andrew B.]

They don't call 'em "cat scans" for nothin'!

I'll have to steal that one. :)

[Judy G. Russell]

I'll have to steal that one. :)Fair enough, considering that I stole it myself! Examples here (http://www.humorshack.com/archive/jokes/animal/50.shtml) or here:

[ktinkel]

And this is not from the last issue of World News. It's from major press sources.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/25/death.cat.ap/index.htmlIt was in the New England Journal of Medicine, and summarized in the New York Times and everywhere else.

What I can’t figure out is whether the cat predicts near death or brings it on — just think: there you are in a rest home, languishing, and this death cat decides to curl up beside you?

What would you do? :)

[Judy G. Russell]

It was in the New England Journal of Medicine, and summarized in the New York Times and everywhere else.Dodi was kind enough to send the article. I really think it's fascinating.

What I can’t figure out is whether the cat predicts near death or brings it on — just think: there you are in a rest home, languishing, and this death cat decides to curl up beside you? What would you do? :)Pet him, of course. What else would you do with a cat curled up on your bed???

[Andrew B.]

Yes, the other possibility crossed my mind.

[Lindsey]

What I can’t figure out is whether the cat predicts near death or brings it on — just think: there you are in a rest home, languishing, and this death cat decides to curl up beside you?

What would you do? :)
LOL!! Yeah, I wondered that myself when I saw that story.

There was some speculation that the cat was reading the routine of the people in the nursing home. But it would make sense to me that if some dogs can detect the presence of cancer, a cat could pick up on some other sort of metabolic condition that presages death.

--Lindsey

[Jeff]

LOL!! Yeah, I wondered that myself when I saw that story.

There was some speculation that the cat was reading the routine of the people in the nursing home. But it would make sense to me that if some dogs can detect the presence of cancer, a cat could pick up on some other sort of metabolic condition that presages death.

--Lindsey

If MD's had noses as good as those animals their patients would have much better diagnosis / prognosis. It's all in the breathing dontchaknow. Smell is a serious part of traditional "eastern" medicine, where a stethoscope is not.

- Jeff

[Judy G. Russell]

If MD's had noses as good as those animals their patients would have much better diagnosis / prognosis.I don't know if it's smell, but it's something. Lots of folks I know (including myself) have had experiences with their animals nuzzling or whining at places where the doctors found cancer soon thereafter. (And no, I don't believe it happened because of, either.)

[Lindsey]

Smell is a serious part of traditional "eastern" medicine, where a stethoscope is not.
I didn't know that -- that's interesting. I guess one reason Western medicine hasn't paid more attention to smell is that they haven't found a convenient way to provide mechanical augmentation, the way a stethescope augments hearing, or a microscope or X-ray or MRI augments sight.

Also, Westerners, and especially Americans, have an aversion to odors...

--Lindsey

[Jeff]

I didn't know that -- that's interesting. I guess one reason Western medicine hasn't paid more attention to smell is that they haven't found a convenient way to provide mechanical augmentation, the way a stethoscope augments hearing, or a microscope or X-ray or MRI augments sight.

Also, Westerners, and especially Americans, have an aversion to odors...

--Lindsey

Well there's also taste. Dr. Curm once said that he was intimately familiar with this diagnostic method, as being definitive during his time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabeties#Diagnostic_criteria

The term diabetes (Greek: διαβήτης) was coined by Aretaeus of Cappadocia. It is derived from the Greek word διαβαίνειν, diabaínein that literally means "passing through," or "siphon", a reference to one of diabetes' major symptoms—excessive urine production. In 1675 Thomas Willis added the word mellitus to the disease, a word from Latin meaning "honey", a reference to the sweet taste of the urine. This sweet taste had been noticed in urine by the ancient Greeks, Chinese, Egyptians, and Indians. "

Taste and smell are not too far apart, if the nose is properly prepared.

- Jeff

[Judy G. Russell]

"In 1675 Thomas Willis added the word mellitus to the disease, a word from Latin meaning "honey", a reference to the sweet taste of the urine. This sweet taste had been noticed in urine by the ancient Greeks, Chinese, Egyptians, and Indians. "You'll forgive me if I say that I do not want to know how they knew how the urine tasted.

[Lindsey]

Taste and smell are not too far apart, if the nose is properly prepared.
Well, yes, that's true. And now that you mention it, I do remember Curm talking about taste as a diagostic tool. Traditional medicine has a lot of avenues yet to explore.

--Lindsey

[Lindsey]

You'll forgive me if I say that I do not want to know how they knew how the urine tasted.
Exactly the way you think they knew.

Taste and smell are reasonable substitutes for chemical analysis in societies without a knowledge of chemistry or sophisticated chemical analyzers.

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

Taste and smell are reasonable substitutes for chemical analysis in societies without a knowledge of chemistry or sophisticated chemical analyzers.I am sooooooo glad I live now (and here) and not then (or there).

[Jeff]

I am sooooooo glad I live now (and here) and not then (or there).

Even then lawyers were not required to lick the pages of the law books, even though such might have helped comprehension. Ink was made of good stuff in those days.

- Jeff

[Judy G. Russell]

Even then lawyers were not required to lick the pages of the law books, even though such might have helped comprehension. Ink was made of good stuff in those days.Remember that I started out as a news reporter. I love the smell of ink. But I wouldn't taste it if I could avoid it.