In literature and film, there are sometimes plots about cats that sense the approach of death. This sounds frightening, but many of these stories have a real basis, starting with an event in 2007. In a nursing home in the U.S., there lived a cat named Oscar who visited only those patients whose death was near. What lies behind this phenomenon?
After the story of Oscar became known worldwide, scientists began to investigate this question. Several theories have been published in scientific journals, but no definitive conclusions have been reached.
Currently, there are two main hypotheses. The first claims that cats are indeed capable of picking up some signals with their keen sense of smell (similar to how dogs can detect cancer, diabetes, and coronavirus).
The second hypothesis is more down-to-earth and suggests that cats simply avoid commotion, and the atmosphere in the rooms of dying people is one of calm and quiet.
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