Cats and water don't seem to mix well by nature.

When you bathe your cat yourself, it's always an amazing battle, but on the internet, you often see "other people's cats" bathing nicely. So why do cats hate water so much? Do all cats hate water? Read on to learn the truth about cats and water.
Why do cats hate water? How can they love water dripping from a faucet, but if they are allowed near a bathtub or tub full of water, they immediately flash their teeth and claws? The following ideas are currently accepted by naturalists and feline researchers around the world.

I. Why do cats hate water?

Cats don't hate water, they just hate deep water or having their bodies underwater. Cats can drink near a water source, but if water covers their bodies, they immediately go from being happy kittens to frightened lion cubs.

Cats hate deep water inside the bathtub or bathtub for several reasons.
1, the water pressure makes it uncomfortable
Imagine if you need to carry a wet blanket on your body until you dry it again with body heat, that feeling you will like? And that's how cats feel when they get all wet.
When their fur is soaked with water, cats feel much heavier and cannot move with normal agility. For cats who like to live with gentle, easy, light wandering, this is a very unpleasant experience, so they especially resist water to get their bodies wet.

2. The evolutionary history of cats determines
Another reason why cats hate water is their history. During the evolution of cats, not many interactions with bodies of water have occurred. Cats originated in the great arid deserts of Africa, which means that rivers or oceans are not a difficulty they have to face, so they have no experience in this area and quite naturally have a fear of the unknown.

3銆丆ats can smell chemicals in the water
Sense of smell is the most reliable sense for cats, and cats also use their noses to know the world. Some of the chemicals contained in the tap water we humans cannot smell, but cats can, and these smells may be very special to cats.

4. Negative experiences
Some cats may have experienced bathing in a bathtub or bath or had their fur all wet when they were young. And the cat's long-term memory will be the water associated with wetness, cold, stress, uncomfortable, and other responsible emotions, when it next saw the water in the bathtub, these negative emotions will be immediately called out.

5銆丩oss of control
Cats can play with any dripping faucet within reach and even venture close to the bathtub while sticking their paws in, but once the water is deeper than their paws, they will immediately panic and scratch and run around. Because in the first two cases, the cat has more control, after all, it remains securely on the ground and can easily escape. But on a slippery surface, with water submerging their bodies, the cat will be in an instinctive predicament in the process - it has no control over its own body.
Because its cautious nature makes it afraid to face any crisis, an uncontrollable body is the cat's biggest pet peeve, and that's the most important reason why cats will go near the faucet to drink and hate going to the bathtub to bathe.

II. Is there a cat that likes water?

All of the above reasons make cats hate deep water. But by any rule, there are exceptions, and some cats like water a lot.
The most famous cats that like water are Maine cats, Norwegian forest cats, Turkish Angora cats, Bengal leopard cats, Abyssinian cats, Japanese short-tailed cats, Manx cats, etc. And the ancestors of these cats have been living in rivers, lakes, islands, and other areas for generations, forming their character of not being afraid of water and even loving water. This is because many of these cats are strong swimmers.

Can I bathe my cat?
You can bathe your cat, but not too often.
Ideally, the cat should be bathed twice a year. If the home environment is poor or the cat is often out and about, then the frequency of bathing can be increased, but preferably not more than once a month.

Bathing the cat too often will wash away the oil on the cat's fur and skin, causing the cat's fur to be dry and easily broken, reducing the resistance of the cat's skin and causing skin damage, which in turn will cause cat anxiety and other complications.

Why are other people's cats so well-behaved when they bathe?
Just like the ancestors of the cats above who have lived near water for generations, if they are trained to bathe when they are young, they will naturally be able to bathe very obediently after many training sessions. As for the training methods, there are many, but everything is the same, after giving the cat a bath reward it with food, so that it will be associated with the bath and food. When the number of rewards increases, it will naturally stop resisting.
Some cats are particularly docile and less likely to resist, so when bathing, even if it has moments of discomfort, they will be able to endure.

III. Reasons why cats are afraid of water

1. The cat's fear of water is related to its fur
First of all, the outer layer of the cat's fur is somewhat waterproof, but once the water enters the inner layer of the fur, it is very difficult for the cat to move in this state. This state is similar to walking around in wet clothes, not to mention how uncomfortable it is.
And cats are agile creatures, the cat fur is wet will let them bear extra weight, the cat in this case is not as responsive as the original.
For us humans, a towel can dry us very quickly after a bath. Even without wiping, waiting at most 5-10 minutes can make the body completely dry. But the case of cats is completely different, blow-drying takes a lot of time, not to mention waiting for it to dry naturally. So in that uncomfortable state, it has to be kept for such a long time. Can cats not be afraid of water?

2. Cats do not like low temperatures
You may often notice that cats like to sleep in warm places. Especially in winter, stray cats will especially like to get inside the car engine to sleep. That's because the normal body temperature of cats is higher than that of humans, which means that cats need to do more work to keep warm to enjoy the comfort we humans feel.
Now, imagine that cats already have more difficulty with the heating thing, and the fur has to be wet. This can cause the cat's body temperature to drop and discomfort to increase. And as mentioned above, the cat's outer fur is waterproof, which means that the water does not evaporate easily. Instead, the water clings to the bottom layer of fur, which makes it harder for the cat to warm up. So you can now understand why cats are always trying to avoid cold water by any means possible.

3. Water in the cat's ears
The inside of a cat's ear is very small, which makes it difficult to drain the water that enters it. In addition, the cat's ear canal has a certain slope, which also makes it more difficult for the water inside the ear to evaporate. Therefore, when water enters a cat's ear, it is several times more uncomfortable than when it enters a human's ear.

4. Cat nose sensation
You may not know that cats have the same sense of smell as dogs, so they can smell more details than humans. Due to their enhanced sense of smell, they can pick up other odors in the water. This can make cats feel scared and uncomfortable, which is one of the reasons why cats do not like water.

5. Past trauma causes cats to be afraid of water
First of all, trauma is not something unique to humans, if a cat's life is in danger due to too much water in the past, this situation can cause trauma to the cat. Even if it does not cause trauma, it can still make the cat hate water.

6. Not all cats are afraid of water
Earlier in the article, we listed the different reasons why cats are afraid of water. However, it is worth pointing out that not all cats are afraid of water. Some domesticated cats even enjoy frolicking in the water, although they still do not like bathing.