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The Museum of Hoaxes is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. (Click here for opening hours, etc.) On our blog we post about dubious- sounding claims, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The site is also home to the Hoaxipedia (the museum's online encyclopedia of hoaxes), the Hoax Forum, and the Top 100 April Fools' Day Hoaxes.

The museum was created in 1997 by Alex Boese. He's assisted by a staff of deputy curators and docents. Alex is the author of three books, most recently Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments (which has nothing to do with hoaxes). Check out the list of the Top 20 Most Bizarre Experiments of All Time for a preview.

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Since he was adopted by staff members as a kitten, Oscar the Cat has had an uncanny ability to predict when residents are about to die. Thus far, he has presided over the deaths of more than 25 residents on the third floor of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island. His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death, allowing staff members to adequately notify families. Oscar has also provided companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone. For his work, he is highly regarded by the physicians and staff at Steere House and by the families of the residents whom he serves.

No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.
Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa's article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying.
If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it's also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person, Dodman said.

"Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him."

That's putting the cart before the horse (looking for a way to explain a "phenomenon" which might not even exist).

Sounds like confirmation bias to me.

The cat NEVER sleeps next to a person who didn't die while he was sleeping next to them?

Of these "more than 25", were they all as described where the cat didn't leave the person's side until the person had died, or were some of them a case where he slept next to someone who died in the next few days? If so, given the population, if he were randomly selecting a person to sleep next to, what are the odds for his hit rate?

And I sure hope they're not notifying the next of kin based SOLELY on the cat!

Many cultures believed that cats were the ones who managed the passing of the dead from this world to the next. So it's an interesting story

nothing too strange to me abt this. there's lots of things out there that are beyond our ability to understand e.g. alien abduction, ghosts, black holes. though most of it I think people made up, I believe it started off as being true, then it got exaggerated. We've known cases where animals can tell when an earthquake was about to happen, or before the big tsunami, animals ran off to higher ground. so this cat probably picks up some wavelength outside of our known band, and he was just trying to be nice and be a companion to the dying person. I've got 6 cats and sometimes the way they try to tell me something (hungry, play me with - i'm bored) makes me feel dumb coz I ca't understand them. and most times, i can't understand just because i'm not listening - too busy, too ignorant, not pay attention. just like between us humans really.

I'll tell you one thing- I wouldn't let the cat come near me, true or not. I think patients would be best advised to keep some form of small pistol under their pillows.

"That's it Oscar...you just keeeep walking there. Just keep on moving right past me..."

Oscar is still alive?
I saw him in a documentary recently
Thing is my wife had that documentary on video
from long before we got married.

If he's still alive he can't have long left.

Seeing as my cat, Nina, used to come lay with me whenever I was sick in bed I believe this. She would usually sleep in my mother's room but if I was sick or not feeling well she would come in and lie by my head and purr.

She seemed to know when things were amiss with one of the family members, she even attacked my mother once when she was going to beat me for something bad I'd done...

I miss her :(

"Oscar is still alive?
I saw him in a documentary recently
Thing is my wife had that documentary on video
from long before we got married.

If he's still alive he can't have long left."

Here's a theory- he's actually absorbing their life-forces in a vampiric quest to become immortal.

Sharruma, it must be a different Oscar, because this one is described as being 2 years old in the article.

JeZZe said:
"We've known cases where animals can tell when an earthquake was about to happen, or before the big tsunami, animals ran off to higher ground."

Do you know of one scientifically documented case where animals have detected a natural disaster before it happens? I think you'll find that is an urban myth.

"so this cat probably picks up some wavelength outside of our known band"

Humans have the ability to detect frequencies from 0 to Gamma-rays using their senses and modern technology. That would include sound waves, radio waves, visible, infrared and ultraviolet light as well as X-rays. So if Oscar can detect anything, so can humans. If there is something else outside this range, that would be a major scientific discovery that has eluded thousands of scientists and engineers for 100 years. This of course assumes dead people emit some different kind of electromagnetic waves when they are close to death, which seems unlikely.

Maybe Oscar's owner should apply for the James Randi $1,000,000 Paranormal Challenge.

I like his stoic arrogant look.

What the hell is a cat doing in a medical facility??

"What the hell is a cat doing in a medical facility??"

Seemingly killing people.

Cuts costs I suppose.

Couple of things regarding Oscar.........
1. Re: "what the hell is a cat doing in a medical facility? from Megan in Tampa Florida" .......

Megan as you are well aware Dogs and other animals have long been established as "good" etc. for healing and calming purposes to both the sick and elderly...in a dementia/alzheimers unit don't you think that is a good thing for people that can sometimes be horribly scared and "out-of-touch" and "trapped" in their own minds? ie: a calming loving cat...? The answer Megan is yes.

2. Cats and all animals do not engage in the "vibes" humans put out ie: greed, envy, and a host of others generally........there are some exceptions to that. The point is that they are therefore emotionally "unencumbered and are therefore more in touch with things and vibes that we as humans do not pick up on. The fact that Oscar picks up on them passing away is not surprising at all rather it is to be expected of these creatures of God who,... apparently has been commissioned by "the big guy" to do his little part on earth here. There's probably a really cool Disney story here somewhere like in a past life Oscar was maybe a really screwed up human or something so....to pay pennance for that, God has relegated him to serve humans for 1 lifetime - as an animal-before being given another "human" existence on earth ie: his next reincarnation. Buy it.......open up your mind and know that these things and the way God works are far to complicated for you to ever, ever, ever understand. Cheers. Peace and love.

The odd thing is that, in my experience, cats themselves prefer to die alone. When they feel their time has come, they seek out some remote place in their home and expire there.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the human body give off it's heat when one is dying?
If so this cat is just trying to stay warm and cozy. Nothing mystical here.

The answer is obvious. If we kill the cat, no one will ever die again. Or if we want to destroy an institution or business. we should hide a doll of the cat in the building, the whiskers of the doll made from the hair of a person who died of old age.

Or if we want to die of old age, we should always carry a stuffed cat's foot on our keychains.

Or if we want to figure out which of multiple ideas or options we should choose, we can write each of them down on a piece of paper and place them in comfy kitty beds covered in catnip. Like a game of musical chairs, as the cat relaxes in each spot, the bed, and the idea, are eliminated from further consideration. This is scientifically proven to work, and will stand up to even the most basic common sense.

1. Everything has a reason.
2. The only thing different about the kitty beds are the ideas on the scraps of paper.
3. There is no other reason for a cat to choose a particular bed other than what makes then different.
4. Also, Etheric Vibrations.

QED

that cat should curl up next to the US Constitution... it's dying as we speak, and GeeDub is standing on its neck. The Constitution's neck, not the cat's, but, if Geedub did stand on a cat's neck, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that the uproar would be much greater than his Constitutional disregard. Hey, Geedub, can you stand on your head? Can I Stand On Your Head? Just axin

I hate GW too, but, honestly, what does that have to do with this story?

I love cats and all, have 3, but if that little bastard came near me I'd crap myself.

Don't worry Craig. I've already skinned and tanned the cat; now I wear him as a mask, and curl up and sleep in the yards of the homes of my enemies.