Do you have a cat and a 5 gallon pail ? The investment for the distilled water would only be about five bucks. You could be doing Science a big favor by conducting such a test.
I'd wager $ 1000 that the cat survives at least 12 hours if submerged up to its neck in distilled water, and walks away from it as though nothing happened, except it will never like you again. If you blindfold it first, maybe it will never know it was you.