A Cat’s Relationship with Water: Love-Hate & Oh So Complex

Do cats love water? Do they hate it? Is there some weird love-hate relationship type thing going on between cats and water? What exactly is the deal?

Every cat on earth has a different relationship with water. Some cats will actually go so far as to swim without looking like they’re staring straight into the face of an axe murderer or as miserable as a… well, cat drenched in water. Of course, these sea-fearing types are very rare in the house cat world, as most of our pets, I think, have a more “standard” approach to dealing with the wet stuff.

While I do feel there are enough unanimous, underlying commonalities tying together how most kitties feel and physically react to water, this relationship seems to be anything but simple. And of course there will always be exceptions upon exceptions to these “rules” so to speak. Nonetheless, here’s my attempt at depicting the typical cat’s overall experience and relationship with the wet stuff we humans have all at one point felt the felines really love to hate..

The Complex Account of a Cat’s Love-Hate Relationship With Water

Told from the perspective of a cat…

1. If it falls from the sky, water’s dreadful. Avoid; nearly at all costs.
2. If it’s sprayed at you, it’s obviously in the same vein as it falling from the sky, yet a lot more frightening. Abort. The. Situation.
3. If it’s still but deep, water is a bit intriguing, but a threat – save yourself and potentially the humans you care about from this incredibly awful condition.
4. If it’s still but very shallow, it can, and quite frankly should, be inspected.
5. If it’s dripping, like from what humans call a “faucet,” you’ve hit ambrosia, the nectar of the gods. Water in this form is a gift from the heavens, the perfect way to drink, and should absolutely under all circumstances be taken advantage of.
6. Same with if it is not quite dripping, but undisturbed in tiny droplet form on surfaces. Magic. Pure wonder to lick and drink.
7. If water happens to be hovering extremely shallowly, just ever so slightly coating the surface of a hard object, like in a “tub” after a human’s taken one of their absolutely inefficient “showers” (someone really needs to train those humans to clean with their mouths..), it’s a great way to cool down and get your paws nice and clean.
8. If it’s on the surface of a textile, what humans called “wet,” it’s meant to be sniffed and inspected, and possibly sat on as well.
9. If it’s within the textile and is completely, what humans call “soaked,” it’s not to be analyzed until it’s had some time to dry. Unless it’s dripping. In which case, the dripping can be analyzed. Dripping is always good so long as it’s not on you.
10. Waters in glasses and bowls are boring waters. They’re not bad, just plain. Drink from them only if you have no other choice.
11. Humans don’t understand, but many of us love the taste of rain water and other waters sourced from “outdoors.” I don’t see how their “clean” version is tasty to them – no flavour!
12. Humans also don’t understand – drinking isn’t much fun at all, so most of us will not bother to do it. I mean it’s not satisfying like eating, after all.
13. We need to be bribed if they wish us to do more “drinking!” Some of us like our water when its flavoured slightly by its metal container, others prefer ceramic, others prefer glass. They need to learn which of us prefers which, and commit these preferences to memory.
14. Other ways to bribe us include making sure our water is fresh; they should certainly be refilling our glasses on demand. We also prefer it chilled – from the cool “tap,” or with this invention they have titled “ice,” which should frankly be given more freely and frequently. These particular preferences I will never understand why they do not assume, since they too seem to have them for their drinking water.
15. Water is not so mystifying, but it seems humans just don’t understand our relationship to it. They try to “boil down” the complexity of it and somehow think we exclusively hate it. They are simple beings that don’t appreciate minutiae. Really, once you take a proper look, it’s quite simple, at least to us cats who are mostly all in agreement. As you can see it only took 15 steps to nearly completely explain.

What Do You Think of the Feline Relationship to Water?

What do you think of cats’ relationships to water? Do you feel there’s an overall hatred or fear toward it for most cats?

How does your own cat react to water in different forms? Does your cat love all water? Hate all water? Love it only sometimes, in certain ways?

Would love to hear your insights in the comments down below!