Can Cats Really Predict Death?
A remarkable story emerged in the New England Journal of Medicine in regards to a cat that could "predict" the deaths of patients inside a nursing home several hours before they died. Oscar, a cat adopted with the staff of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center throughout Providence, R. I., has at the least 25 successful predictions, in which patients died hours following the cat sat down by their own beds. After the nursing home's staff caught on Oscar's ability, they began alerting all the families whenever the cat used his post next to the patient. Most families tolerate or also welcome his presence, though Oscar becomes angry if forced out of the room of a dying individual, meowing outside the door.
Oscar's steps appear deliberate. He regularly wanders about the home's unit for patients having advanced dementia. He sniffs and watches the patient before sitting down with the woman's. Oscar then purrs while sitting using the patient and usually leaves immediately after she dies.
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Is it a "sixth good sense, " a unique scent he smells or something different? Animal experts have put forth a variety of explanations, though most agree that it likely is due to a specific smell produced by simply dying patients. That is, those who are dying emit certain chemicals that will aren't detectable by other humans but which will pique Oscar's heightened sense regarding smell. An expert on felines said that cats can sense sickness into their human and animal friends [Source: BBC News]. Jacqueline Pritchard, a British animal expert said that she was certain that Oscar was sensing vital areas shutting
Weigl uses the sense of sight to show the reader how sick May is, “she did not raise her eyes to meet me when I came in” (6); “about the size of her tumor and her age” (10); “and then the nurse shaved May’s skinny leg” (14). Typically, when a dog’s owner comes into the room, the dog would be excited and run to greet their owner. May is so sick and in so much pain, that she does not even lift her head to look at her owner when he/she came into the room. Weigl mentions the size of May’s tumor and how skinny her leg is and that gives the reader a visual picture of May’s suffering.
In Oscar’s voyage in search of passionate love, he continually falls under the deadly, friend zone or as it’s u...
...Mary. In his intense situation, there is no way such an act could be considered a mishap, and Bigger even feels better about himself when it is done. All of this leads to beg the questions, How much of a role do our friendly little felines play in our day to day lives? Are they still living up to their reputation today?
Euthanasia is the fact of ending somebody’s life when assisting him to die peacefully without pain. In most cases, it is a process that leads to end the suffering of human beings due to disease or illness. A person other than the patient is responsible for the act of euthanasia; for example a medical provider who gives the patient the shot that must kill him. When people sign a consent form to have euthanasia, it is considered voluntary, involuntary euthanasia is when they refuse. When people are not alert and oriented they are not allowed to sign any consent including the consent to euthanasia. When euthanasia is practiced in such situation, it is a non-voluntary euthanasia. In sum, people who practice voluntary euthanasia in honoring other
...egins to think of how far away and lost the cat must be, and without being certain that it had escaped, throws himself into the enclosed bedroom and shuts the door behind him, he explains “And then-and I don’t know why-I pulled the door shut behind me” (Boyle 83), in the instance, severely risking his life; however, like the several, feeling helpless and lost, he seems to be acting on impulse and not bothered by it.
This paper will discuss the prison gang issue that exists in our correctional system. It will list several powerful gangs that populate the prison and jails around the country. Descriptions of the gangs will be given along with their history and courses of action they take to maintain discipline within its culture. From the criminal justice side the discussion will cover issues of safety, temptation and corruption that happen when dealing with the various gangs. Finally this paper will propose some personal solutions I think would help ease some of the issues correction officers and those in the criminal justice system have to deal with daily.
A bus carrying several clinical students from the local college pulls up in front of the nursing home. The students begin to unload some boxes which contain puppies and kittens ranging in age from three to six months. Once inside, the students begin to pass the puppies and kittens out to the patients that are waiting expectantly in the recreation room. Some patients are alone, some are in groups, but all are delighted to see the animals arrive. As the animals are being passed out, the patients begin smiling, laughing, and talking to the animals. They stroke their coats, play with them, and feed them snacks that they have saved for this occasion. While the patients are interacting with other students and staff, two of the students begin making notes on the activities that are taking place in the room. The patients, staff, and students are clearly enjoying themselves, but there are greater benefits to be found here.
2. The comic strip focuses Mrs. Blason, who takes her mother to the doctor and discovers her mother has Alzheimer’s disease. The next day, Mrs. Blason takes her cat to the vet and explain the symptoms the pet is having. While both, her mother and pet, have nearly identical symptoms, they are diagnosed with separate conditions and given different advice. A week later, Mrs. Blason’s mother is maintaining a constant cognitive health and her pet passes away as a result of the poor source of information relating to animal cognitive health and poorly educated decisions.
“It’s Over, Debbie” an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, written by an anonymous person, sparks a heated debate concerning the nature of euthanasia. The article is written from the perspective of gynecology resident’s. After analyzing the patient’s condition, he gives her a twenty milligram dose of morphine sulfate. This amount of dose is not concerned lethal; however, given the patient’s underweight body and medical condition was enough to kill her. The problem arises in determining whether this was active or passive euthanasia. Due to the ambiguous wording of the article, the answer can vary from reader to reader. For example, the anonymous author describes how the nurse gave the resident hurried details,
I am writing to you today with both the interests of the public, and my own interests, on the topic of Euthanasia becoming legalized in British Columbia. In a 2013 poll conducted by Life Canada the findings were that in British Columbia 63% of Canadians believed that Assisted Suicide be brought into place, and 55% believed that Euthanasia should take action, although some hesitated because of the numbers of non-consensual Euthanasia deaths in Belgium. Having Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide legalized would not only be able to help the terminally ill and physically disabled decide how they wish for their life to end, but the legalization would also save a lot of time, money, and resources in hospitals and palliative care facilities. Although some laws such as section 241 of the Criminal Code would need to be reviewed, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide could potentially end some people’s suffering, and save money and resources for the province.
Merriam-Webster defines euthanasia as “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.” As a globally issues, euthanasia is always in controversial. Swanton,D argued that euthanasia protects the rights of individuals and the freedom of religious expression. Additionally, Sydeny,D outlines europe’s increasing acceptance of euthanasia which may mean that euthanasia is a preferable choice for people. Conversely, Fagerlin, A PhD from University of Michigan Medical School and Carl E. Schneider, JD from University of Michigan Law School suggest the great distortion of living wills if euthanasia is allowed. What is
Physician-assisted suicide is “the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life.” (medterms.com) Surveys have shown physician-assisted suicide to be gaining more and more support amongst doctors and “up to half of adults believe it should be legal in cases of terminal illnesses.” (Vaugn, Page 597) In a 2000 large survey, Oncologists revealed 22.5% supported the use of physician-assisted suicide for a terminally ill patient with unremitting pain, 6.6% favored active euthanasia in these circumstances, 56.2% had received requests from patients for physician assisted suicide, 38.2% for active euthanasia, 10.8% had performed physician-assisted suicide and 3.7% active euthanasia. (Vaughn, Page 598) Not only have physician-assisted suicide begun gaining more support amongst physicians but also in the public. In a 2007 survey conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs, results have shown that 48% of the public believe it should be legal or doctors to help terminally ill patients end their own life by giving them a prescription of fatal drugs while 44% believe it should be illegal. (Vaughn, Page 603) In the 2007 Gallup Poll, results show 56% of the public believes when a person has a disease that cannot be cured and is living in severe pain, doctors should be allowed to assist the patient to commit suicide if the patients requests it and 38% believe it should not be allowed and 49% of the public believes that physician-assisted suicide is morally acceptable while 44% beli...
The problem of euthanasia, like abortion and other controversial dilemmas of our times, divides society almost the whole of the Western world on its supporters and opponents.
On the flip side of this coin, there are those people who are pro-life and against the option of euthanasia becoming legalized across the board. Connecticut was featured in the news recently on the issue of euthanasia as proponents for the bill tried to have it passed but it was shot down and once again unsuccessful. Maybe these people who are against it feel this way because there is nothing really in place to prevent its misuse by patients and doctors alike. What happens if we embrace death with dignity and inadvertently contribute to the premature deaths of patients due to misdiagnoses of illnesses? Everyone knows about the famous Dr. Kevorkian who was the angel of death by assisting over one hundred patients to their death in the name of mercy. All doctors take the Hippocratic Oath to preserve life and do whatever is necessary to hold true to this oath. Maybe our society as a whole need to try to remember why we look to those in healthcare to make us better. All healthcare professionals essentially make a promise to preserve life and make a patient look forward to a healthy outcome. Maybe we need to revisit this instead of leaning towards a patients attempt to reevaluate why they should live.
Euthanasia in a controversial topic that does not get enough attention. It is literally a life or death situation. The legalization of Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted-Suicide is plea of all terminally ill patients for freedom. It gives those patients the right to die with dignity and to end all the pain and suffering that comes with dying from a disease. Why should people’s loved ones be forced to go through all the pain if it can all be ended with one treatment? Many people ask: what is euthanasia? Why would a person want to end their life? How would that person’s family feel about the procedure? These are all common questions that have answers; people just do not do research to find their answers. Euthanasia is not a bad thing; it’s the process of helping a person become free of pain and suffering.