I dunno how reliable it is, but I've had a lot of cats growing up, and we'd always try to get them used to water when they were still very young kittens, giving them baths in the kitchen sink. Most of my cats ended up tolerating getting a bath into adulthood (I don't think any of them loved it, but they didn't freak out about it), though we had one who was always a crybaby about it, from day one.

Sometimes you just get lucky and end up with a cat that absolutely loves water. I had one that I'd have to lock out of the bathroom whenever I'd shower, because she'd always want to get in the water and start rolling around and try to get under my feet.

You have to raise cats from a young age to be okay with baths, and even then they can object to it on principle.

When I've needed to wash my cat he's been surprisingly cooperative. Some cats don't mind it as much as you'd think. It helps to give them a towel or something that they can put their claws in.

Now drying him off? That did not meet with his approval.

For my cat, the secret is treats. She’ll do anything if you give her a little bit of turkey.