Insert Jaws music here.
Da-Da, Da-Da.
It’s early one morning in the rest home when all you see is the little tale swishing back and forth beside that half-eaten plate of Jello. Do-do-do.
In case you don’t click on the link below, I’m commenting on the cat (Oscar) at the Steere House Nursing And Rehabilitation Centre in Rhode Island, USA. Apparently, Oscar can accurately predict when patients will, uh, well to keep this a semi-MBA related blog, Oscar helps with capacity planning and vacancy forecasting. See, he’ll roam the halls and then when the time is right little Oscar will stop and go to sleep with the occupant of a soon to be vacant room.
Can you imagine the stress for the people in the home? Old Fluffy Oscar comes rolling around the corner each morning. The joyful moment of ‘whew it’s morning and I’m still here’ quickly becomes tense as the little fella rolls into your room. He sits down, looks at you and … yawns. Then a quick tail flip and he’s out the door.
I’d have to guess this, for the patient, has to be a similar feeling to avoiding a 100 MPH speeding ticket on I-77. First there’s astonishment (did that little bastard make a joke by yawning), then anxiety, finally joy quickly followed by a quick check of the pace-maker and a piece of scripture or two.
It’s the poor schmuck that The Grim Reaper of Kitties Oscar curls up beside that really starts to panic. ‘Oh shit.’ ‘uh nurse, can you get this cat!’ Then, you start shaking the little guy.
Wake up little fella!!! All you hear is cat sounds ‘ggrrrhh, rrraaahhh’ followed by that Looney Tune scratching sounds as Oscar’s eyes roll back in to his head like a scene from Night of the Living Dead. Suddenly there’s violins playing as the cat breaks into a dance.
… rain starts hitting your hand. Shaking. Light. You’ve just fallen asleep during the Junior League’s performance of Cats for the elderly.
Da-Da, Da-Da.
Think they sell stuffed cats in the Steere House gift shop?
Grim rea-purr: The cat that can predict death | the Daily Mail
