Most grooming advice assumes the brush is the main tool and water is the enemy, but your cat has it the other way round. A cat who loves water and hates being brushed is not hard to groom once you stop fighting her preferences: water itself, plus your hands, can do nearly everything a brush does, with none of the scratching, pulling sensation she objects to.
Why Wet Fur Is Easier to Work
Loose hair clings stubbornly to a dry coat and drags against the skin when a brush pulls it free, which is likely exactly what she hates. Wet fur behaves differently: water weighs the loose hairs down, lets them slide out under a stroking hand, and softens small tangles so they separate with gentle finger work instead of a yank. You will see the shed hair collect in the water and on your palms, which is proof the session is doing the same shedding work a brush would have done.
Build the Session Around Water Play
Start with the water experience she already enjoys, whether that is a shallow basin, a slow-running tap she likes to bat at, or standing in a little water in the bath. Once she is wet and relaxed, stroke firmly along her back, sides, and tail with flat wet hands, always in the direction the fur lies. For thicker areas, rake slowly with spread fingers, pausing to ease apart any tangle you feel rather than pulling through it. A wide-toothed comb used only while the coat is soaked is worth one trial, since many brush-haters accept it when there is no dry dragging.
Drying Without Undoing the Good Work
How you dry her matters as much as how you wash her, because towelling a long or thick coat roughly can create the very tangles you just removed. Press and squeeze sections of fur in the towel instead of rubbing back and forth, then let her finish drying in a warm, draught-free room. While the coat is still slightly damp, one last pass with your hands will lift out hairs loosened by the water, and she can shake and arrange the rest herself in her own way.
Read Her Signals and Stop Early
A water-loving cat still has limits, and the goal is for grooming to stay filed under play in her mind. Watch for the tail starting to flick, ears flattening, or her moving pointedly away from your hands, and treat any of those as the end of the session even if you had more planned. Ending early while she is happy means she will come back to the basin willingly next time, whereas pushing through one long session can turn even water into something she avoids.
Keep Notes on What She Accepts
Cats like this usually have a precise personal list: the basin yes, the tap no, fingers yes, the comb only when fully soaked. Recording that list after each session saves every person in the house from re-running experiments she has already voted against, and it shows over time whether her tolerance is growing. KinsLe Care Teams let you attach those accepted steps to her grooming duties and mark each wet session complete, so whoever grooms her next follows the version she has already approved.