Cats That Love Water

This is a list of cats that love water:

1. Tigers
2. Fishing cat
3. Flat-headed cat
4. Jaguar
5. Leopard cat
6. Bengal cat
7. Savannah cat
8. Turkish Van
9. In general: wildcat hybrids
10. Some individual random bred cats

In the water where it is happiest. The flat-headed cat.

Numbers 1-5 are wild cats. 6 and 7 are well known wildcat hybrids.  There are other lesser known wild cat hybrids that will tend to like water as well. It is in their blood because their wild cat ancestors liked it.

The Turkish Van originally comes from the area that surrounds lake Van in eastern Turkey. It is said (perhaps with a little bit of exaggeration) that the Turkish Van in Turkey learned to swim in the lake! I am yet to be completely convinced that this cat breed really does like water. There is a tendency on the Internet to repeat what someone else has said.

Although probably 99.9% of random bred cats don't particularly like water, a few will like water to the extent that you could say that they love it.

"Love" is a strong word. I would suggest that those cats that are in the list on this page do not necessarily love water. It is just that the food (prey) is in the water or it is cooler in the water. The fishing cat and flat-headed cat prey on fish.  They have webbed paws. The tiger lives in a hot environment and likes to keep cool in water - sensible. It is more a case of practicalities than loving water.

Asiatic Golden Cat Pictures

Here's a good selection of Asian golden cat pictures from what I consider to be images that are in the public domain or which can be published under license (thank you).

There is a link below the image which leads to a Picasaweb album of all these images and if you click on the image itself it takes you to a larger format version and the name of the author or source of the image. Four of the pictures are camera trap photographs. These are taken by an automated camera that fires off when the cat passes in front of the camera.

From Asiatic Golden Cat	From Asiatic Golden Cat
From Asiatic Golden Cat	From Asiatic Golden Cat
From Asiatic Golden Cat	From Asiatic Golden Cat
From Asiatic Golden Cat	From Asiatic Golden Cat
From Asiatic Golden Cat	From Asiatic Golden Cat
From Asiatic Golden Cat	From Asiatic Golden Cat

You can read about this small wildcat on this page: Asian golden cat.

Can cats predict earthquakes?

Cat predicts earthquake and takes cover. Photo: Usonian

Yes, cats can predict earthquakes. We don't know how! It may be due to the cat's acute sensitivity to vibrations of the earth during the build up to the earthquake. Or the cat is picking up the increase in static electricity that is present before an earthquake.

Apparently some people get headaches before and during an earthquake due to the higher levels of static electricity. Another possible reason is the cat's ability to pick up a shift in the earth's magnetic field.

Apparently a cat's behavior can change dramatically just before an earthquake. Cats might:

• run around trying to get out of the house
• carry kittens to safety
• get out of the house if there is access

In the film "Phenomenon" (1996), John Travolta suddenly achieves supernatural levels of intelligence. He can sense the impending arrival of an earthquake, mimicking what a cat can already do. During the middle ages cats were thought to have supernatural powers and were killed as a consequence. Mad world.

Do cats fall off balconies?

Cat falling 40 feet from tree to a lawn. He was unharmed.

Do cats fall off balconies? Yes, they do. Cat owners think that cats will always be smart enough and athletic enough to never fall from a balcony. They are smart and great climbers but they make mistakes like the rest of us. The kind of mistake might be incorrectly assessing the rigidity of an object on the balcony. It gives way and the cat falls.

Many broken bones are caused by falls. The most common in warmer weather are falls from apartment windows that have a screen and the cat pushes the screen open thinking that it is fixed. It gives way and the cat falls.

The severity of the injury suffered depends partly on the height of the fall. Paradoxically, the higher the fall (to a limit), the lesser the injury as the cat has time to right himself and then get into a gliding position like a flying squirrel. This slows the descent (see photo above).

Bones broken as a result of a fall from a good height are:

• femur
• pelvis
• jaw
• spine (less frequent)
• skull (less frequent)

Blind cat on open roof top.

Often, there is shock and blood loss and internal organ injuries. Cats injured in a fall might be in pain - handle with care and immobilize the cat before taking to the vet.

Cats should not be allowed out on a balcony without a careful assessment of its safety for a cat. A balcony cat enclosure is nice!

I remember seeing a blind cat on a flat roof in Malta. The roof had no edges, just a straight fall. He had fallen once and survived. See the photo. He had great hearing.

Why do people hurt cats?

Why do people hurt cats? This is a big question. There are no clean, simple, straightforward answers to this sort of question. I would welcome opinions in comments. In the meantime I will provide my opinion for what it is worth.

Perpetuation

We should recognize the way animal abuse is perpetuated by generations of people in the same family. Children learn by observation from fathers and mothers. Children and their children are likely to perpetuate animal abuse.

Anger

Angry people might express and direct their anger at animals. A lot of us are angry about society at some time or another. Some people are more angry than others and possibly angry all the time. This may be borne out of abuse against them. Or neglect from parents. That sort of thing. A child or young adult might wish to express that anger verbally (short temper) and in actions that are violent. One such action might be a form of retaliation against society. A vulnerable target will be a companion animal. The domestic cat is particularly susceptible to attack by a violent individual. In hurting a cat, the angry person dissipates some anger and as a consequence feels happier. This is why they like hurting cats.

Disconnect

People are becoming increasingly disconnected from nature. This engenders a lack of respect for animals.  It is the "it's only a cat" mentality. That mentality makes it easier to abuse a cat because disconnected people don't have empathy for the cat's emotions and senses.

Superiority

A lot of cultures either western or Asian consider animals as lesser creatures whose sole purpose is to serve the superior human. The world is for the use of humans. Use it as you will. This culture leads to an abuse of the world's natural resources, nature, the environment and cats. It supports animal abuse in an indirect way.

Fetish

Crush videos are a cult fetish that is a controlled expression of a desire to hurt cats and cute animals. Hurting cute animals is more potent than hurting other animals because cuteness is a human and superficial concept. It represents the human condition and the perpetrator wants to hit out at society.

Associated Pages

Selected pages (there are hundreds more on PoC - please search - go to home page)

• Cat abuse - contains links to more as well.
• Pictures of animal abuse
• Declawing - for me this is cat abuse.