Phantom Cats: Omens of Death?

I was reading a book called Ghosts and Goosebumps this morning.   It is a collection of Alabama ghost stories and folklore.  One of the stories that stood out to me was told by an Alabama woman named Peggy Ham.  In her story a big white cat just appeared in her sister's room while her sister was sick.   No one saw it when it came in and everyone tried to drive the cat from the room.  There was nothing they could do to scare the cat away.  The next day the sick child died and the cat was gone.   After the funeral the family moved t another place.  In about a month another child got sick just like the first child.   One night,  the same cat appeared again.  No one saw where the cat came in.  The cat appeared three nights in a row and then it vanished.  On the third nigh the second child died.  The cat was never seen again.

In a previous blog,  I discussed a mutilated cat ghost that has been seen at Oxenby Manor.  This phantom cat was the ghost of a cat that had been tortured and killed in order to be cruel to a little boy.  The cat ghost was frequently seen at Oxenby Manor and always came just prior to some one's death.

I have also discussed Oscar the Therapy Cat in a previous blog.  I read the book Oscar the Therapy Cat  and it followed the interesting story of a cat that lives in a nursing home and always lays on the bed of patients just prior to their death.  Many doctors and scientists have tried to prove that Oscar is responding to changes in body temperature or some physical, tangible manifestation of death, but they have been unable to.  Oscar predicts death.

These three case studies lead me to my question.  Are phantom cats omens of death?  I know Oscar isn't a phantom, but he still seems to be able to predict death.  Can cats sense death and once they have died to they continue to predict death?   It seems to me that through the many cases of phantom cats I've read about this is the case.  I am by no means an authority on cat ghosts, but it seems that if you see one,   you should definitely make your peace.