A two-year-old cat called Oscar has become a medical celebrity after being identifed as a furry harbinger of death.

The cat lives in a third-floor dementia unit in a nursing home in Providence, Rhode Island, and has displayed an uncanny knack for predicting when patients are going to die by curling up next to them in their final hours.

So far, according to an article in today's New England Journal of Medicine, the cat has presided over the deaths of 25 patients at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre.

"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," the Journal reported.

The phenomenon was described by Dr David Dosa, a Brown University geriatrician, in an article entitled "A Day in the Life of Oscar the Cat".

“He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” said Dr Dosa in a subsequent interview. “Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one."

The cat was adopted as a kitten and grew up in Steere House unit, which treats people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He would sniff and observe patients then sit beside people a few hours before they died.

Dr Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. “This is not a cat that’s friendly to people,” he said.

According to Dr Joan Teno, who treats terminally ill patients at the facility, Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there.

She was convinced of Oscar’s talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Dr Teno said that she noticed the woman was not eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near.

Oscar would not stay inside the room though, so Dr Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor’s prediction was roughly ten hours too early and the cat joined the woman at her bedside, hours before her death.

Doctors say that most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, grey-and-white cat are so ill they probably do not know he is there, so patients are not aware of his macabre talent.

Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.

No one is certain if Oscar’s behaviour is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Dr Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behaviour of the nurses who raised him.

“I don’t think this is a psychic cat,” Dr Teno added. “I think there’s probably a biochemical explanation."

“That is such a cat thing to do,” added Thomas Graves, a feline expert and chief of small animal medicine at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

Mr Graves said that there was no evidence to suggest cats can sense death, but he doesn’t discount it for a minute. “Those things are hard to study. I think probably dogs and cats can sense things we can’t,” he said.

On a particular day detailed by Dr. Dosa, Oscar settled onto the bed of a patient in room 313. His presence sent staff off to make calls and set up vigil.

When a grandson asked why the cat was there, his mother explained:“He is here to help Grandma get to heaven." The patient died half an hour later.

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