I'm a fan of Kate. I use it as my standard programming editor and have done so for the last two years.

One thing has always bothered me to no avail, the completely **** up spacing. Code that I write and perfectly indent in Kate is all messed up when viewed in any other programming editor, be it web based or native, and vice-verse. It's like every other programming editor has agreed to a spacing standard that Kate and family (Kdevelop, Kwrite) have completely ignored. I've tinkered with every option under the hood and found no solution. Until now...

The answer is so damn simple that I don't know how it took me so long to find it, more importantly, I don't know why Kate doesn't default to it. The issue is the font. That's all. To get the "standard" spacing shared by every other programming editor on the planet you must use a mono-space font. There are several offered by default, you can take your pick, any will do as long as is mono-spaced.

I really wish I'd found this sooner, but at least now I know. More importantly, I can pass the tip for anyone out there bothered by the same issue.
You are welcome