Yes Sharon, but the article said that Oscar doesn't seem to be a naturally affectionate cat with the patients, ignoring them most of the time - until they are about to die. It sounds like he doesn't curl up on beds as a matter of course - only on the beds of dying patients.

I've noticed cats often head for the non-cat-people too, but I doubt whether it is because they are "the calmest spot in an agitating environment". Nothing very calm about getting turfed off the lap of a non-cat-person. That's what is likely to happen to Onyx if she tries to climb on John's lap. Doesn't stop her from trying though.

As many of us have said here, our animals often seem a lot more affectionate when we are sick or distressed in some way. I know when I am sick or distressed, my state of mind is anything but calm.

I think cats, like many animals, have a more highly developed sensitivity to all kinds of subtle cues - something that we humans probably used to have but have mostly lost - some more than others. In that way, I consider it to be a gift. Animals are well known for sensing changes in their environment, such as the weather, because it has always been necessary to their survival. You could even argue that empathy is necessary to the survival of the species. Oscar may well regard the people in his world as his own species because it is his whole world.