70 Pets Who Discovered Water And Had Extremely Strong Opinions About It

Cats and water have one of the most dramatically different relationships to water in the animal kingdom, and there is actually a biological reason behind it. A cat's coat is not designed to repel water the way a dog's is, meaning it gets waterlogged quickly and becomes genuinely uncomfortable to carry around.

On top of that, cats are control freaks by nature, and there is nothing more destabilizing to a control freak than suddenly being wet. The betrayed expression every cat pulls the moment water touches them is not performance; it is a deeply personal crisis.

Before you write off all cats as water-hating drama machines, it is worth knowing that their bigger cousins have an entirely different relationship with it. Tigers actively seek out water in the wild and are powerful, enthusiastic swimmers who use rivers to cool down and hunt prey.

Jaguars are similarly comfortable in water and have been documented diving in after fish. Even lions will wade through water when necessary. Somewhere along the evolutionary line, the domestic cat looked at all of this and decided it was absolutely not for them.

If there is one breed that needs absolutely zero convincing to jump into any body of water it encounters, it is the Labrador Retriever. Originally bred in Newfoundland to help fishermen retrieve nets and haul lines from the water, Labs have webbed feet, a water-resistant double coat, and what can only be described as a spiritual calling to be wet at all times.

They are consistently ranked as one of the most popular dog breeds in the United States, which means there is a very good chance someone near you has a soaking wet Lab right now.

As funny as it is to watch a dog dramatically avoid a paddling pool, keeping pets cool in summer is very serious business. Experts at the Cornell Canine Health Institute explain that dogs cannot regulate their body temperature through sweating the way humans do, relying almost entirely on panting to cool down.

When that is not enough, heatstroke can set in fast, bringing with it excessive drooling, weakness, and potential organ failure that can turn fatal within minutes. A shallow pool, a garden sprinkler, or even a wet towel can be lifesaving on a hot day. The drama of bath time is nothing compared to the alternative.

Not every pet on this list is a dog or a cat, and that is what makes these scenes so captivating. Ferrets, bearded dragons, pigs, and ducks have all made appearances, and each one has a completely different reaction to water that is worth documenting.

According to a 2016 estimate, 13.3% of households owned specialty or exotic pets, a massive 25.5% increase from 2011. As exotic pet ownership continues to grow, so does the internet's access to footage of a bearded dragon experiencing a swimming pool for the first time, and honestly, that is a gift to all of us.

Fish are the one group that nobody ever has to argue with about water, and yet somehow they still manage to be fascinating subjects in this conversation. Betta fish, for example, are so territorial that two males cannot share the same tank without an immediate and spectacular fight breaking out.

Goldfish, despite their reputation for having a three-second memory (which is actually a myth), can recognize their owners and respond to them. The pets we assume are the simplest to deal with are almost always hiding something quietly extraordinary just beneath the surface.