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Here's the deal; according to a UK Register Guard story, this woman has taught her kittehs to swim for their own safety.
Ahn. The eyeballs say it all.
Redonkuloussssss, Doug Q.! Oh, and Sender-Inner Theo D. also sent in more on Swimming cats. [eye roll]
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PROSH!
*bleen??*
Terrified cat does not *care* that his big ol' eyes match the poolwater. Poor pitty puddy, it's for your own good (huh?)
Okay, that's two bleens within a week. Is everyone else getting lazy, or am I just THAT awesome!?
Anywho.
TOTALLY redonk. The bulging eyes of abject fear! Kinda looks like an iceberg...
Surely a cat would be able to swim if it had to without "teaching"???? Anyone know? Just curious....
I was actually under the impression that all mammals have the ability to swim - not sure if there's really anything to teach.
I'm not sure how this is for their own benefit.
Is she throwing them into the pool everyday or something?
It would make sense if she lived in a houseboat but I'm not really getting this story.
IT'S NOT NATURAL !!!!!!!!!
omg...the eyeballs are CLASSIC.
Oh god, here we go with the commentroversy . . . Please people, just read the friggin' article attached to the photo before you jump to your shrieking conclusions, would you? The cats are FINE, and someday, if they fall into a tub or a pool, they won't panic and drown because they're accustomed to water. Christ almighty . . .
FYI, I have no idea who this "Theo D" is. Ees nawt mee.
why mommy why?
Whiskers curled in an upright position so as not to get them wet.
I don't think he/she is scared, I think that look is a look of concentration. Must keep muzzle above the water... Kick kick kick
Okay I can get this over with quickly:
Outraged
encouraging other people to do such cruelty
not cruel, cute
pudding
why do you post these pictures
choc. or vanilla
I still think its cute...
Reminds me of the video on Planet's Funniest Animals where the tabby cat was happily swimming alongside his wading human in a shallow lake. That cat looked pretty happy in the water. This one, well, I can't get over the eyes matching the poolwater!
I think the bigger problem for the cat in trouble is not swimming but being able to climb out of the pool or whatever they're in. I hope she's working on that too, or the whole project is pretty useless.
Never had a pool or taken a cat into one, but I've known some who loved to "dig for fish" or just stand with their front feet in the water bowl (and then walk around the house dripping). Some wild cat species enter water-- tigers and jaguars included-- and the Fishing Cat specializes in it.
Side note, the story is from the Eugene Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon - not the UK Register Guard.
[This is bizarre]
i think if your cat loves to swim, well why not. if you're forcing this on them, that's cruelty. i would imagine that any cat in danger for their lives would get to know how to swim real fast.
I think people need to read the article before they post about this pic.
The woman isn't doing it just for her own amusement b/c she likes torturing her cats.
She's making sure her cats are comfy enough in the water to swim and not freak out just in case an accident happens and they somehow fall in.
Heeheehee, I'm going to sit back and eat my pudding and not even get into this one...hey, does anyone know if there's a new episode of Planet Unicorn yet?
Nice whiskerage.
the whiskas make me tink .oO cATfiSh ^^
I wonder if that's a Chinchilla persian (the eyes and colouring are right)? A friend of mine had a chilla called Ziggy who loved to play in water, and would get in the bath given half a chance. Don't know if that's a characteristic of them in general, but he certainly liked it!
I've never seen a cat's eyes opened so big.
Hope the water's not too heavily chlorinated.
/\___/\
(=O_O=)
What an adorable photo. Gorgeous kitteh! And nope, not all mammals instinctively know how to swim. I used to also think this, but I learned otherwise when my dog fell into deep water. She'd been around shallow water before, but had no idea how to swim when she couldn't touch the bottom with her toes. Terrified, she went under two or three times, slapping at the water ineffectually until she could eventually be hauled out. When I was a kid, our cat fell into our swimming pool one night and nearly drowned because he couldn't find the steps at the shallow end. Kudos to this pet owner!
I have a Turkish Van from the swimmingcats.com breeders! He's the greatest cat ever. He doesn't swim, himself, but has been known to put food in his water dish and bat it around. He also used to wake me up to play catch!
I've actually known quite a few cats, both purebreds and "regular" kitties, who enjoy playing in water. I think the whole cats-being-afraid-of-water thing might be exaggerated.
WAAAAAATTEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRR!!!!
Poor kitters...
I love the muzzlepouche action.
once when I was a kid, our cat somehow fell into the pool. We were sitting at dinner, and heard a small *splash* in the backyard. Seconds later, soaking wet cat bursts through the cat door and streaks through the house :)
Turkish Vans actually like the water. His eyeballs are big because he sees the bonkers on poolside.
I think the look is more of an "OMG! The dog saw me! I'm NEVER going to live this down."
And not all mammals can instinctively swim. Otherwise, Humans wouldn't need swimming lessons.
That and last time I checked, chimps couldn't swim.
Thanks, Michelle for answering my question regarding if cats can swim anyway.... :-)
"the whiskers are NOT getting wet!"
"No matter how many times that mean lady throws me in this pool, my whiskers are staying dry.
oh, and I'm going to scratch the crap outta her when she tries to pick me up too."
Ok seriously, I've read the article and I'm still not sure why she thinks this is for their own safety.
It's not like they're toddlers who can't be allowed near the pool.
Does she think they're going to be swept away by a dam breaking? Does she think rogue pools cruise the neighborhood waiting to drown kitties? Is she going to drop them into the ocean in a NASA capsule?
She didn't "teach" them to swim, they already knew ... maybe how to get out ... but mammals instinctively paddle ... they hate it but they will still swim to safety. If they drown is probably because they can't haul themselves on the sides of the pool and get exhausted.
That being said, the eyes are spectacular ... moreso because they match the water.
It's actually surprisingly common for panicked animals (pets, wildlife) to drown in swimming pools when they fall in. Many of them will struggle to climb out the side of the pool (which is usually too high to get a paw over or leverage to get out) b/c they don't realize that there is another way to exit, be that ladder or steps. Hopefully cat-swimmy lady is also teaching her kittehs where the best exit point is. If not... maybe she needs one of these: http://www.skamper-ramp.com/topic.asp?pid=1
We once had a sweet lil dachsund doggie who thought he could do everything the other doggies did. But after jumping into a creek (just following the leader, ya know)
lil dachsund doggie discovered he couldn't swim. I was just about to jump in from the bridge above to save him, when we saw him casually walking along the bottom of the creek (underwater) and emerging from it with a big body shake and grin. He had survivor skills we didn't even know of.
When I was little, down on the farm, I used to "teach" kittehs how to swim in the cowtank. And I have the scars on my arms to prove it... : )
Notice kitty is swimming AWAY from owner. Swim free, kitteh, swim freeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!
Please to be filing this under matchingks. :D
I don't know whether cats can swim instinctively, but when I go swimming my cats stand by the waterside and wail heartbrokenly, as though the crazy human must be suicidal to willingly submerge herself in WATER!
my cats would kill me. They would throw daggers at me with their eyes.
Oregonian - Thank you for pointing out that this is an article from Eugene, Oregon, not the UK. I live in Eugene and I forwarded this link to my friends who live in Cottage Grove (a town 20 minutes down the highway from Eugene). Hehe. :-P
Kar - There are opportunities (although they're probably rare) for kitties to fall into pools, such as when they're not paying attention while playing with their kitty friends or while escaping a dangerous situation (like being confronted by a neighborhood dog on the loose). Also, we do have occassional floods in Oregon. A fork of the Willamette River that runs directly through Cottage Grove flooded a number of years ago. People and animals can get stranded by slowly rising flood waters (like with Hurricane Katrina) and before they know it, they have to swim to safety.
On another note...
*sqeee!* - I want to cuddle that white, whiskery, wet kitty.
She is not going to help her cats from not drowning, Cats do not need to be taught how to swim. Cats drown in pools because they cant get out. Not because they cant swim.
Hahah! I remember my kitty Feathers was once so desperate to be petted he jumped into the pool and swam to the center to climb on my shoulder.
Weird.
those crazy Oregonians :)
BEAUTIFUL kitteh. I've had cats that would probably have enjoyed swimming but I have never had a pool.
All cats can swim. Period. It's as instinctive as is burying their poo (to hide their tracks from preditors) or purring when they're happy. They don't like to swim. Think of what it was like for their ancestors. The only time they swam was when there were floods, or they needed to escape a preditor. Trust me, they'll swim if they have too.
Villy-
your kitteh was probably trying to save you!
They cant believe anyone would intentionally get submerged in water. :)
That's really neat! My best friend lost her childhood kitty when it fell in her pool and drowned and it took her 10 years to get over the grief and adopt another one. It's definitely not cruel.
I once had a kitty that loved the water, although I never got to see her swim in a pool. She loved to sleep in the bathroom sink, but only with the water dripping on her tummy. And she took a shower with me each day. Also, whenever she got super hyper, I would take her outside and run the water hose on her tummy and she calmed right down. She also like riding in the car with me, and once tried to explore the pneumatic tube at the bank's drive-thru teller. She was quite a character! ;))