So you may wonder why someone would need to teach a cat to swim. For me it's a safety issue, but it's also because I have one real cool cat. Her name is Sassy.
If you look at the first photo you will see that our sliding door from our house is not too far from the pool. All of our cats are strictly indoors, but some of them want to explore outside. To get out, many times they will dart out of the door in almost a blind run and nearly end up in the pool. Many pets will "panic swim" if they end up in the pool. This is where they flap their feet basically trying to walk on the water rather than swim through it. Often times they get worn out and drown.
I've got six cats and Sassy is the only one that will dart out of the door and is the only one I feel needs swimming lessons. She also happens to be a very adventurous kitty who I was sure wouldn't have problems once she got use to the water.
Based on some comments I will add a couple pieces of information here.
1. The pool has a solar heater and was around 90 degrees F.
2. The chlorine levels in the pool are maintained to just above drinking water.
3. Sassy had been around the pool for many months prior to this and so wasn't really afraid of it anymore.
4. I changed to title to better reflect what is actually happening. I'm not teaching the cat to swim, but simply giving her a safe and calm environment to develop what should come naturally to her.
If you look at the first photo you will see that our sliding door from our house is not too far from the pool. All of our cats are strictly indoors, but some of them want to explore outside. To get out, many times they will dart out of the door in almost a blind run and nearly end up in the pool. Many pets will "panic swim" if they end up in the pool. This is where they flap their feet basically trying to walk on the water rather than swim through it. Often times they get worn out and drown.
I've got six cats and Sassy is the only one that will dart out of the door and is the only one I feel needs swimming lessons. She also happens to be a very adventurous kitty who I was sure wouldn't have problems once she got use to the water.
Based on some comments I will add a couple pieces of information here.
1. The pool has a solar heater and was around 90 degrees F.
2. The chlorine levels in the pool are maintained to just above drinking water.
3. Sassy had been around the pool for many months prior to this and so wasn't really afraid of it anymore.
4. I changed to title to better reflect what is actually happening. I'm not teaching the cat to swim, but simply giving her a safe and calm environment to develop what should come naturally to her.
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Signing UpStep 1: Safely get the cat into the water.
This could be the trickiest part of all. Most cats will "fight & flight" if they see you taking them towards a pool. So the trick here is to not let them see the water while you are getting in.
Hold the cat comfortably in your arms and do whatever you can to keep the kitty calm. Walk backwards in to the water so the cat cannot see you entering the pool.
Hold the cat comfortably in your arms and do whatever you can to keep the kitty calm. Walk backwards in to the water so the cat cannot see you entering the pool.
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When I say that Sassy is "very adventurous", I meant it. She's also one tough cookie.
Last week I went to do our bi-monthly nail trimming on the cats and discovered Sassy had pulled off a claw and the tip of one of her toes. Basically she "declawed" a toe. We didn't find any blood in the house, so we are assuming it happened a few days prior when she had gotten out for a few hours and that by the time she got home the blood had clotted and the toe stopped bleeding.
She showed no signs of being injured and is running and jumping as if nothing had happened. She's on antibiotics now, but no long term exposure to water until the wound heals over.
As I have said in a few other comments, if Sassy ever had ended up in the pool by accident, she probably would have gotten out on her own. But she is such a brave and adventurous cat that I thought she'd be up to swimming. I will try to get her to get ner the water on her own this summer.
You can't teach a cat to swim, cause they already know, like all animals, even elephants.
If a cat or dog get drowned is only because they dint reach the border or the ladder.
So, if you providea WAY OUT it will be just enough, and it WONT drown (panic or not).
Personally i don’t think it’s necessary to bathe a cat neither, only in several cases of fleas.
They do a nice job keeping themselves clean. (My vet supports this also).
I've never heard of a drowned cat, I mean NEVER. Have you? in that case did the cat had a way out?
I'm sorry I don't consider adequate the comparison with your step mom or any human.
This is what this all the controversy of this instructable is about; People humanize pets. They should be treated with all love and respect. But they are not humans. There isn’t such thing as a good or bad cat/dog. It’s instinct.
We also keep the pool filled to just a few inches below the lip so it is easier and more likely for any animal to get out.
As for never hearing of a cat drowning in a pool, most people would probably never report this to anyone that would make the incident public.
But there is no harm in doing this and it's only result is I now KNOW my cat can swim.
Our current cat (who is now over 17 yrs old) would have taken my arm off if i had gone anywhere near a pool with him, yet he does not mind walking in the rain and getting wet (so long as it is his decision..) as much as most. One of my old cats would not have minded at all - didn't mind being washed - was even happy travelling in a car, and was totally trusting. Another was so neurotic he was scared of his own shadow, would scream the house down if he had to travel, trying to teach him to swim would have resulted in a complete mental meltdown.
In the end it is the responsibility of the owner to decide whether this instructable is applicable - or worthwhile - for their individual pet. Only the owner (or custodian as we prefer to call it) of the cat knows their own animals traits and thresholds, and can weigh up the benefits of this type of 'training'. Personally, i would not even consider it for our current cat, though if we had a younger pet and percieved a potential pussy in pool problem perhaps..
I got Sassy when she was only about 6 weeks old. I knew from the very beginning that she was going to be one cool kitty, and she is.
I'd love to be able to get our cats to the point of really loving swimming, like so many dogs do. Tigers and some other large cats naturally swim, see http://www.wimp.com/tigerspark .
You have some lucky cats, nice job!
If you have a WalMart or Target near you, get a plastic kids pool, this way the kitty claws won't be able to puncture it.
I don't have a bathtub, but I think I have a plastic tub somewhere here that my little cousin used before. Thanks!
I came across these instructions as I'm looking for information about cats and their swimming habits and instincts, I will soon be moving aboard a narrowboat (a canal boat, very common here in the UK), it will be a huge transition for my cat who is 2 years old and has lived always indoors, more than the swimming it worries me that she won't find a way out of the water, let's see how it goes!
Look in http://www.gamma2.net/skamper-ramp.htm and see if it is something you could use where you will be living. You may also want to see about building a floating dock that basically just floats on top of the water and surround your boat with it. The cat will likely swim towards the boat if it fall in to the water. PM my in private, I have some ideas that would make it easy for you cat to get out of the water.
Water training cats isn't as crazy as it might first seem. My last cat (Bill Clinton III) was very nearly 18 years old when he died. He needed occasional baths when he was unwell and not grooming himself properly. Getting him used to water earlier would've been better. He definitely minded the hotter water a lot less than cooler or tepid water!
Yes, an emergency cat-ladder is highly recommended, even in empty pools esp. if you are going away, unless you have good stairs all the way from the bottom to the top that an injured animal could climb.
I have another cat that is leash trained. His motivation was the ability to go outside and meet people. He loved going in to the kiddy area at a nearby park. it was enclosed with a 3ft fence, so I could let him off-leash and he'd just hang out and play with the kids.
I'd like to share my story. I live in a floating home, in a marina. While I never wanted either of my two cats to have to learn to swim, a few times they have fallen in and managed to get out almost as soon as they hit the water. I figure it was pure adrenalin! (The fight or flight response).
The river has almost zero visibility (silty) and a strong current and it scared the heck out of me. Btw, I was outside with them, and they'd be out before I got to them.
The only time I got really worried about them becoming tired, was when Peanut actually jumped into the water because an off leash dog was charging towards her and she was too scared to come out! You can bet I had words with the dog owner!
After each time they fell in, it would take them about 2 hours to thoroughly clean every inch of themselves, even when I tried to towel most of the water off.
If I fell in, I don't think I'd have the strength to pull myself out without a ladder or help! Despite the adrenalin rush!
Also, I thought there were bylaws that you needed to have a fence with a self closing gate between your house ans your pool, but maybe not where you are. Just sayin', not judging.
Definitely, this needs to be taught young. I don't have a pool and (with the nanny-state regulations that surround them) I'm unlikely ever to have one.
One of my former cats, the most feral of the litter, used to develop an unhealthy smell. So he was used to being bathed once a week in the laundry tub. Current cat doesn't seem too fussed about water either. There may be a tray inside, but rain will not deter him from going out for his ablutions.
I think this instructable is an excellent demonstration that cats and water can mix but I would still have a good plank available rather than reach into the pool for the cat!
Suzanne in Orting, WA
Yes, cats will usually get out of the water on their own. And when I do take a cat in the pool, I towel dry them as best I can then let them take over. At least the pool water is probably a bit cleaner than river water. :-)
New pools installations do require a fence, if you have children or are planning on fostering children. If you have an older pool without a fence, and want to foster children, you do need to get a fence installed. This pool was installed in the mid 70's long before and fence laws came about. And we have considered putting a fence in, but in order to do so, we will have to replace the segments of the patio where the fence is to be anchored. The patio is not thick enough to handle having holes drilled in it, according to the pool fence company we contacted.
"Cats have become fashionable pets these days." Um. Yes. They have been our pets for something like 9,500 years:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0408_040408_oldestpetcat.html
Yup. That's fashionable.
But she also caught a fair number of jackrabbits that matched her in size and dragged them home, so ya just never know what a cat will do.
Have fun this summer! Sassy might just decide that she enjoys taking a dip once in a while!