Talk:Oscar (therapy cat)

This article was nominated for deletion on 27 July 2007. The result of the discussion was keep.

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A fact from Oscar (therapy cat) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 30 July 2007. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Oscar the Cat was featured in the New England Journal of Medicine for his purported ability to predict the impending death of the terminally ill?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2007/July.

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Plagiarism

The text of this article seems to be heavily plagiarized from the AP news story. Please rewrite or add a plagiarism template. --18.96.0.200 16:11, 26 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sigh... Why don't you report AP for plagiarizing the New England Journal of Medicine? --Camptown 10:21, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If this is a copyvio then that's a serious problem. Whether or whether not the AP did the same thing to the New England Journal of Medicine is somewhat irrelevant Nil Einne 15:37, 28 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What section of this article is plagiarized? Please elaborate. (Ghostexorcist 21:30, 28 July 2007 (UTC))[reply]

Even if it isn't copyvio, the language needs improving. "last earthly breath"?!? Please. This is an encyclopedia.--134.159.165.7 02:34, 30 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed Deletion

OPPOSE. If the New England Journal of Medicine considers Oscar and his story worthy of publication, given the numerous submissions from which it has to choose, then Oscar is definitely notable enough for Wikipedia. Quidam65 03:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. yalbik 06:23, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Of course the article should be kept! --Camptown 08:05, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  - yeah i can't see in any way why this should be deleted--Ragingbullfrog

The consensus from the afd log was to keep the article. No more votes are being accepted.(Ghostexorcist 19:04, 27 July 2007 (UTC))[reply]

2008-06-22 revert.

Reasons for the revert of the external link and tone cleanup? -- Jeandré, 2008-06-23t08:52z

I reverted your edit because you deleted a paragraph based on its tone instead of just rewriting it. It's important to note that the cat will cozy up to the dying, but otherwise stays clear of the living. I don't care about the removal of the external link or the "last earthly breath" line. --Ghostexorcist (talk) 09:54, 23 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Coat Color

What color is Oscar?

Hmmm... I'll see if I can get a refrence.-Warriorscourge (talk) 05:08, 18 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ah! Brown and white. -Warriorscourge (talk) 05:10, 18 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

He's very cute. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bluecollarchessplayer (talk • contribs) 17:35, 21 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Oscar's Death

I recall reading about Oscar passing away at least a year ago, possibly longer? Google searches for "Oscar the cat + death" or "...deceased" only show one link to a periodical's website, discussing that Oscar may have, in fact, been murdered by a disgruntled patient of the nursing home where he took up residency. I'm not sure how credible it is, but IIRC I heard it on the evening news, so I'm guessing it's probably true. If it is, someone should add it to the article, yes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.90.49.34 (talk) 03:55, 17 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I remember the same thing. Also, I recall the Wiki page being updated with the news, I don't know why it's since been taken down. The story, as I remember it, is that he was hit in the head with something after jumping on the bed of an elderly patient. The patient was afraid this was a signal of his upcoming death, so he killed Oscar. The Steere House website lists him as alive, and 5 years old. http://www.steerehouse.org/Mediarelations/oscar

So, I don't know. Maybe he was just injured? If anyone can shed some light on this, I think it would be worth including in the article. It speaks to how he is viewed among the patients.

I remember hearing about this shortly after the original article. Turns out it was a hoax news story, created due to Oscar's sudden popularity. Quidam65 (talk) 02:52, 2 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Is Oscar still around? He'd be at least 15-16 if he is. Ninevolt (talk) 19:05, 13 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Just spotted that Oscar died on 22nd February 2022. I'm not confident enough to edit the article so could someone else do it? Confirmation is at Facebook, both from Dr David Dosa (author of the 2010 book about Oscar) who maintains the 'Oscarthecat' FB page (see the earliest of his posts on 23rd February with 4 paras of text), and then also from the Steere House Nursing Home (Oscar's home and 'workplace') FB page where their announcement was also made on 23rd Feb. Haven't seen any press/media reports so far, but this page has taken the news from FB. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ajffrwd (talk • contribs) 05:38, 7 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

NPOV

I believe this article at least to some degree fails to remain neutral. In the medical explanation section, one would expect to find a discussion of both those who believe in the cat's abilities and those who don't, but the few lines that would deny the cat's ability are quiclky followed by that person supporting the hypothesis that the cat can sense illness.

e.g. "I suspect he is smelling some chemical released just before dying," says Margie Scherk, a veterinarian in Vancouver, British Columbia and president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners. "Cats can smell a lot of things we can't," she says. "And cats can certainly detect illness."

That is about as close to an oppsing view as this article has and it says "cats can certainly detect illness."--KX36 (talk) 12:18, 21 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see it; there are a couple explanations for how Oscar could sense people dying. All of them are sourced. If you can find articles or other sources that call bullshit, feel free to add them. The limitation in my mind is that of sources, not of POV. I doubt you'll find any opposition to sources that criticize Oscar's abilities. WLU (t) (c) Wikipedia's rules:^simple/_complex 13:19, 21 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Refrense number 9

I changed the text according to the real meaning of this referense. There was a mistake with understanding Pitlik's meaning. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.66.223.54 (talk) 12:31, 22 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Deleted "Skeptical explanation" section

I deleted this section for violation of NPOV and for personal research and advocacy. Besides a single outside reference and a reference to about.com, the author of this section engages in self-authored polemic about logical fallacies. The footnotes are mainly citations of Dr. Dosa with whom the section author is debating. Moreover, a vague reference to about.com does not count as a valid source. The author obviously is using bogus or circular footnotes to varnish a personal opinion piece/criticism and as such is non-encyclopedic. "Skeptics" referred to are not cited except the one. The author's assertion of a claim of "psychic ability" is specious, since no such claim has been made. In fact the previous section's "Possible explanations" are scientific and quite sufficient. If the author wishes to have a section like the one deleted, then he/she should provide outside and authoritative arguments, not his/her own. J M Rice (talk) 22:02, 24 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

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Statistical evaluation: Specificity? Sensivity? Discriminant validity?

How often does he do this with people who aren't dying? How often do people die when he is available to show up but doesn't do so? In other words, what are the specificity and sensitivity (and discriminant validity) of his behavior as an indicator?

Standard correlation-vs.-causation worry: possibility of other direction?

Also, have staff investigated the possibility that his presence might somehow make patients more likely to die (by creating a condition, exacerbating a condition, comforting them to the point that they're more OK with "letting go," etc.)?