why do cats hate water so much?

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Cats hate water because they're scared by their own reflection.

There may be other reasons too but this is certainly one of them.

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No. If you show a mirror to a young kitten, it will try to play with the "other kitten" in the mirror. It can be quite entertaining to watch them bat at their reflection, poke their paws behind the mirror, etc. It usually doesn't take them too long to figure out that the "other kitten" isn't real, and adult cats usually ignore mirrors.