Dec 12, 2012
Head Canon 5
Puss is terrified of water. This goes back to before the curse when he was still a cat. When he was a kitten one of his older siblings threw him into the nearby river to see if he could swim. Of course he couldn't and being a cat didn't help with his fear of water. Luckily his master saw what had happened and sent a servant out to pull him from the river. Ever since he has had the fear still. He's never learned to swim and has no interest.
If he is forced into deep water, he will have an anxiety attack and begin panicking. It's almost bad enough that being close to a large water source can begin triggering it. Despite the fear, he tries to play it off as though he isn't afraid of water as well as that he can swim.