We’ve all heard about cats that absolutely despise the water.
And we’re often surprised by cats who don’t seem to mind having a bath.
But Allessia and Pat’s cat, Hokule’a, absolutely loves the water.
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So, much so that he’s big on water sports and loves to swim.
You see, Holuke’a is a surfer cat.
“When we started catching wave, he would walk up to the nose [of the board] and hang out there like he was hangin’ 10,” Pat told The Dodo.
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“Hokule’a loves what Hawaii has to offer. He’s just enjoying the surroundings and enjoying the motion of the ocean, as we are too.”
Allessia and Pat, who live in Honolulu, rescued Hokule’a from an animal shelter where he was listed as “Animal Number: A37840051.”
“I went to the humane society just to check out all the kitties and I saw him.”
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“He had a very, very sweet look on him. Very shy. He was hiding under the bed and under the sheets of the bed and slowly he warmed up to us.”
Once Hokule’a was comfortable with his new family, he started following them everywhere.
That’s how Hokule’a found his love of water and swimming.
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When Hokule’a’s parents would take a shower, he’d follow them in there.
He was very curious about the water and didn’t mind getting wet or being splashed at all.
“He just wanted to be close to us,” Pat said.
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When Hokule’a started playing outside, he would even do so even in the rain.
He’d come back inside soaking wet.
Allessia said she and Pat were “amazed” to see a cat who loved the water this much.
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They had no idea that they’d be even more amazed by Hokule’a’s love for water than they already were.
“That’s when we decided that we have a lot in common and maybe he likes the beach too, so we had too,” Pat said. “I found a beach that was virtually empty, nice calm water, and not too windy so he would be most comfortable.”
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They let Hokule’a play in the sand for a bit before bringing him to the water’s edge.
“He warmed right up to it and then we saw that he could naturally swim well,” Pat said. “So, I had my surfboard there so I placed him and I paddled out to the small waves and just caught a wave. At first laying down and he seemed to enjoy the ride.”
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Pat wanted to make sure that Hokule’a was comfortable and felt safe on the surfboard so he cut a piece of boogie board in a diamond shape and glued it to the boogie board so Hokule’a could sit in it.
The kitty definitely became more comfortable after that and started walking up and down the board. Eventually, he just started to jump into the water so he could swim around a bit.
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“He jumps from the board in the water. If I am in the water, he just comes to me and then swims back to the board,” Allessia said. “He gets into some sort of zen mode. I think the ocean itself relaxes him. [He will be] falling asleep and baking in the sun.”
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Hokule’a has gotten pretty good at surfing and is a pretty fast swimmer these days.
In fact, he almost swims as fast as his mom does.
But after about an hour, he gets a little tired. That’s when his parents take him home and immediately give him a freshwater shower.
“Yeah, it’s fun to have a cat that shares the same interests,” Pat said. “Now that we have a third part of our family to share it with, it just makes it that much more special.”
Learn more about this cool surfer dude cat in the video below.
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