Can cat swim? As long as they are alive and kicking, cats will do anything in their power to get far away from the water, and that means paddling their way to safety. In other words, yes cats can swim, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they will like it.
Keep in mind though that not all cats are the same. Some cats do love to swim like the Turkish Van breed or the Asian fishing cat. These cats have been trained and evolved from many generations past.
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Cats Are Not Like Dogs
Having said that, remember cats are not like dogs. If you throw a Frisbee in the air and it lands on the water, your cat is not going to go after it. It will just sit there looking at you, waiting for you to move and get it.
If you throw the cat in, it will swim to safety but will keep looking at you sideways for a long while before it can forgive you for your treacherous act.
You have to spend time with your cat in the water, build up its confidence to let it know that the water is not an enemy, but rather a form of entertainment for the cats. Start with small bodies, like a kid’s paddling pool and work your way from there.
Domestic Cats vs. Wild Cats
Wildcats had no human interference in their lives and lived based on their God-given instincts to survive. So if you are trying to look for a means of escape if you are stuck in the wild, water is not your best option.
Domestic cats have it harder than the wild ones. With Domestic cats, the owners have interfered with this process and have let them get used to the lazy ways of life since you pretty much take care of them entirely.
Thus they see no need to learn anything about water because they know in any situation you will be their savior.
This is good for you (because they place so much faith in you) but sorry for them, because you sort of stripped them of their rights. Don’t worry there is a solution to help fix this. You teach them how to swim (keep reading as I will explain how this is possible)
If they know how to swim, why do they hate it?
Cats are creatures that cling to habits. Just because it knows how to do it, doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be a familiar process for it. To solve those issues you need to introduce it to this new experience.
Also, cats fear water because they do not want to get their coats wet. The water soaks through their fur and gets stuck under there coat. It stays like this until it dries off. Since cats are always in survival mood, they don’t want to die of hypothermia or stay cold for a long time. So they still tend to opt out of any water areas.
This is also true when swimming. The drenched undercoat can add to the weight they have to carry when in water. Since their feet are tiny and have no strong muscles surrounding them, they find it difficult to carry the weight of both themselves and their coat.
Finally, cats don’t like strange smells. Since the smell of water is strange to them, they are unsure of what they are getting into. They don’t risk it and just avoid the situation altogether.
Do Cats Need To Swim?
With all the reasons why they hate water, they do need to know how to swim. Let’s imagine you are living in one of those houses with a backyard pool. You are distracted and left the house door leading to the pool open. Your unaware cat wanders outside and stands by the swimming pool.
Now you’d think since the precious species hates water that it would have some common sense not to fall in, on the contrary, they do drop in, and some cats do struggle to climb back up that they don’t make it to safety.
To avoid situations like these, I highly encourage you to teach your cat how to swim or play with it in the water to understand that there is nothing to be afraid of.
Teaching your Cat to Swim Make sure the swimming pool is in a medium state. You don’t want cold water to scare your cat even more. A 90 degrees Fahrenheit or around this range would be suitable.
Also, make sure the water is almost free of chemicals to avoid the cat from swallowing any of the harmful contents.
Just to clarify, you are not per say literally teaching your cat how to swim, you are creating a safe, calm environment for it to develop its already given ability to swim.
Step one
Change into your swimwear and carry your cat with you to the pool. Make sure your cat is facing away from the pool, so it doesn’t fight you against it. Slowly back you’re into the pool and make sure your cat doesn’t suspect a thing.
Step two
Once you are submerged in the water, keep still and let your cat take in its surroundings. Make sure that the cat’s paws are held securely in your grasp to avoid any scratches or any attempts of escaping.
This step really tests the faith your cat has in you. So before trying to teach how to swim, make sure your cat is comfortable in your presence and trusts you.
Step three
Start to go lower in the water. Your cat will keep trying to crawl up your body to avoid the water. Don’t pull it away from you. Just keep going lower in the water. Soon it will let go of you and paddle around in the pool.
Is There a Certain Age They Can Learn In?
Yes. Cats are not like humans, they don’t have an unlimited window to learn new materials. Kittens have more of a success rate to be taught compared to full grown cats.
With kittens, you are setting the borders of what they can and cannot do. Therefore it is easier to tame them and teach them how to swim.
With cats, they already know their capabilities and are not willing to increase their knowledge box, so you will have a tough time trying to teach them how to swim.
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