Why Do Cats Hate Water?

Have you ever had a pet? If so, then you know that tak­ing care of an ani­mal can be a very chore. Pet own­ers must feed and exer­cise their ani­mals every day. In addi­tion, they often have to coax their pets into things they don’t like. If you’ve ever tried to bathe a cat, you know exact­ly what that means! Many cats will do any­thing to avoid con­tact with water.

Reasons for dislike of water

Experts have many answers to this ques­tion. Some say that domes­tic cats hate water because they have too lit­tle con­tact with it after birth as kit­tens. Many pet own­ers don’t bathe their cats as felines groom them­selves.

In addi­tion, many cats asso­ciate water with pun­ish­ment. This is because many pet own­ers spray water on cats to stop them from doing things the own­er does­n’t like. In this case, the water makes the cat think he did some­thing wrong. No won­der they run out of the bath!

Anoth­er expla­na­tion has to do with evo­lu­tion. Cats are con­sid­ered “semi-domes­ti­cat­ed”. This means that they still have some instincts from their wild ances­tors. Cats don’t like sur­pris­es and like to be nim­ble if they need to avoid a threat. Wet fur can weigh down a cat, caus­ing it to move more slow­ly. Cats may think that water puts them in dan­ger, mak­ing them less dodgy and agile when need­ed.

Have you ever been caught in the rain with­out an umbrel­la? Was it a pleas­ant expe­ri­ence? While some may say yes, most peo­ple don’t like being caught off guard. When cats are sprayed with a hose or sud­den­ly plunged into a bath, they feel the same way. A large pho­to selec­tion with bathing cats is wait­ing for you in a sep­a­rate pub­li­ca­tion.

But do all cats hate water?

No, of course not! In fact, some mem­bers of the cat fam­i­ly are very fond of water. This is espe­cial­ly true for large cats that live in hot cli­mates. Tigers, jaguars and leop­ards are good swim­mers. They often bathe to cool off on hot days.

Anoth­er big cat that is known for its love of water is the fish­ing cat. Ani­mals liv­ing in the swampy regions of Asia have par­tial­ly webbed feet that help them swim. Most of these cats live away from urban areas, but in recent years peo­ple have still met them in cities. An angler cat was found in an office com­plex prey­ing on orna­men­tal carps in a foun­tain.

No won­der some wild cats love water. But there are also domes­tic cats, which are also not against water. The Turk­ish Van breed has such an affin­i­ty for water that it is called the “float­ing cat”. It is also large in size and can weigh up to 6 kilo­grams. It is con­sid­ered an excel­lent pet.

There are also lovers of swim­ming among Ben­gals, Maine Coons and Savan­nah cats. The Manx, Amer­i­can Bob­tail and Japan­ese Bob­tail are also fond of tak­ing a dip from time to time. Thus, the state­ment “cats don’t like water” is only par­tial­ly true. Many cats don’t like get­ting wet, but many don’t mind soak­ing in warm water.

How to teach a cat to water

Are you a cat own­er? If so, fear not! There are many ways to teach a cat to love water, or at least not hate it. If your pet is a kit­ten, it is best to expose it to water ear­ly and often. The more your cat comes into con­tact with water, the less it will be afraid of it. You should also avoid using water as a pun­ish­ment.

Inter­est­ing fact: cats are the sec­ond most com­mon pets in the world, right after dogs. Obvi­ous­ly, their dis­like of water does not make these pets less pop­u­lar among peo­ple. In con­tin­u­a­tion, vis­it the feed with pos­i­tive pho­tos of cats, which will sure­ly cheer you up.