Our cat loves to take a shower — maybe yours too?
Most people think cats and water don’t fit together. But just put a fountain in your room or turn on the tap in the bathtub. Perhaps you will experience the funniest surprise of your life.
It’s been a few months since I got out of the shower in the morning and opened the bathroom door to let the steam out. My cat came in, jumped directly into the tub and began to lick the rest of the water out of the tub with relish. When she finished, she jumped out again and left wet marks all over the apartment. I could just catch her and dry her off before she cuddled up on the couch with her wet fur.
Since then this game has been repeated every morning, and at some point, she discovered that the tap was still dripping. She held her head under the faucet and let the drops fall on her head. She seemed to really enjoy it, and all I could do was wonder. Since then I have had to turn on the tap at least once a day so that she can “shower. She loves it almost more now than her food.
Why do we think cats are afraid of water?
This belief dates back to earlier times, when cats were mainly kept as free-goers. Cats that roamed the countryside all day had plenty of opportunities to have bad and unpleasant experiences with water.
A cat that slipped on a slope and fell into a stream or pond understandably had little desire to repeat it after such an experience. It, therefore, kept away from water as far as possible in the future.
And since a cat’s life is relatively long, sooner or later the day came for every cat to have such an event. Usually, according to the nature of things, it was the young and inexperienced cats who suffered such mishaps. So it’s no wonder that people thought that almost all adult cats had a seemingly innate fear of water.
Today, as we often keep our cats in the flat, they have to experience such traumatic moments much less frequently. So water is no longer an issue with negative connotations since early childhood.
How can I test if my cat is a water lover?
Just do it as I described it above: just let a thin trickle run out of the tap in the tub when your cat is nearby and see what happens. You can try to lure her in by throwing a favorite toy into the tub or by gently placing her on the edge of the tub so that she can observe what is going on from a safe distance.
Under no circumstances should you, however, grab your poor house tiger and hold it directly under the running tap. This is cruelty to animals and leads with absolute certainty to a water-shy cat, which is the exact opposite of what you actually wanted to achieve.
My cat seems to like water. Now what?
Cats sleep up to two-thirds of the day, but for the rest of the time, they want to be busy. Especially in flats, however, the possibilities are limited. You can now either buy new toys every week and replace them regularly or take advantage of your pet’s natural play instinct.
The natural play instinct of cats is all too often directed against furniture, wallpaper or other furnishings that are dear to us. You should see our wallpaper at home. Just our cat (we also have a tomcat) was a real wallpaper fan before she discovered the play with the water for herself.
Today it is enough for her to enjoy herself twice a day in the tub. The next step is to buy a small indoor fountain. She would then no longer be dependent on my willingness to switch on the water and stay with it for a few minutes before switching it off again.
I’m sure your cat would also enjoy the wet element. Just give it a try!
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