The Sims 4 Pets: Cats and Dogs DLC

Guide & Expansion Pack Features

The Sims 4 Cats and Dogs Expansion Pack

in the Cats and Dogs DLC
The Sims 4 Cats and Dogs will bring pets to the game on November 10, 2017. While the usual 'pets' pack will not include horses this time around, it does attempt to bring loads of detail to the two featured pet types. Below you'll find a list of many new additions you'll receive with the Cats and Dogs Expansion. It's not an exhaustive list of new stuff, but does give you a good idea of the main gameplay you'll get if you buy the pack.

Pets Guides (UPDATED)

I'm just getting started on these because my review copy came late through no fault of the Sims team. For now we have:

A Guide to Adopting, Caring for, and Training Pets
Pet Traits New
Veterinary Clinic Guide New
Veterinarian Skill New
Veterinarian: Pet Sicknesses and Cures List New
a guide to making a mixed breed in cats and dogs.

Cats and Dogs DLC Features

Create-a-Pet

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Create a Pet in the Cats and Dogs DLC
Click to Enlarge. Create-a-Pet

The new DLC features a fully functional Create-a-Pet system. While using it, you'll have all the tools and options you need to customize your Sims' pets. Common Dog and cat breeds are available to choose from, and you can further customize the look of your companion animals. Each pet takes up one slot in the household (max 7 with one Sim). Pets can be made from a young age (kitten/puppy), natural or neutered. Since every pet is unique, you can also select traits for your dog or cat which will influence their behavior.

Cats and Dogs can made to be mixed breed - I've made a small guide to how to do it here.

Playing with Cats and Dogs

A cat and dog in the Sims 4 Pets Expansion
Click to Enlarge. A cat and puppy from the game's trailer.

Aside from making a cat or dog in Create-a-Pet, you can also adopt one using your Sim's phone. During the adoption process you can actually screen pets and choose whether you'll decide to adopt them if you like the animal.

Pets will liven up Sims' lives in a number of ways. First, you will have to care for them, for example walk dogs, feed them and take them to the vet when they're sick, else they can be taken away. Kids who do this will gain responsibility from the Parenting pack.

Walking a dog in the Sims 4 Pets Expansion
Click to Enlarge. A dalmatian having fun with his owner in the park.

You can't control your pets, but you can teach them. Pets can be trained and your Sims will build up relationships with them in the process. Is the cat shredding furniture? Scold it and teach it not to do that, and it'll gradually stop using this behavior. Housebreak your dogs and teach them to go outside. Many players seem to like this feature, as it's more realistic than giving the player the ability to control what the pet does. You can't see their moods, you can only check how they're doing.

The new presence of animals in the Sim household will blend in perfectly with the base game and other expansion packs. For example, Pets can travel with you to Granite Falls or Sixam should you wish to have them along for the trip.

Taking care of a Pet in the Sims 4 Cats and Dogs DLC

Pets can get pregnant, and can be encouraged to breed. If you fail to have your pet neutered, they may run away and come back pregnant. They'll run away regardless, but you can prevent 'surprises'. Pregnancy can result in 1-3 puppies or kittens, depending on household space and randomness. When pets get pregnant, it's possible to sell the puppies or kittens. Adult animals can be put up for adoption if you no longer want them.

Veterinarian and Pet Training Skill

Veterinarian Career in the Cats and Dogs Expansion Pack Taking a Dog to the vet in the Cats and Dogs Expansion
Click to Enlarge. The new veterinarian career lets you care for cats and dogs by either playing one, or taking your sick pet to be cured. Pets can only die of old age in the Expansion.
New paintings in the Expansion
New paintings and new clothing and hair styles are also in the Expansion

There's a new Pet Training skill you can use to teach your pet tricks and useful abilities. Should you wish to further specialize in caring for animals, you can try the new Veterinarian career and do it for a living. Playing a Veterinarian is a lot like owning a business. You'll have to staff it, and manage treatments of animals. Customers will judge you based on employee impressions, the level of care and your efficiency. You can customize your veterinary business by using perk points.

New treatments unlock as your Sim gains levels in the Veterinary skill, which is separate from owning a veterinary clinic. There's actually some viable money-making opportunity in creating special pet treats, which can be sold from the Sim's inventory. You can actually treat your own pets if you purchase veterinary equipment for your home ,though they are big and expensive. It may be helpful as a time-saver if you have many pets, though most players will opt to have the medicine crafting lab instead of a full-blown surgery machine costing many thousands. Special treats can be given to your pets, including one that acts as ambrosia and will bring pets back to life. You can also make them immortal, by producing age down potions for when they become elders.

Brindleton Bay in Sims 4
Click to Enlarge. Brindleton Bay, the new neighborhood in The Sims 4 Cats and Dogs

A new world is featured in the DLC - Brindleton Bay, and it's got a beautiful New England look. New lot traits have been included in the pack as well - Training spot, cat/dog friendly, dog spot and cat spot. There are new collectibles (features) aspirations for Sims to pursue, and Sim traits. Naturally the pack also features plenty of new build/buy mode objects that can be used to accent your Sim's home or vet office. Some of these are interactive, such as the vending machine and medicine crafting table.

Overall there's quite a bit of new content in the Expansion that can't be listed here just yet. I'll dig into the gameplay the weekend of release and work on guides for cats and dogs, the veterinarian and any Sim skills.

Cats and Dogs Trailer

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Comments (75)

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Regular
Laurensays...
Loving the expansion so far! Will check back here for updates in the coming daysSmile
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New
Larlysays...
Loving the expansion so far.
However after playing around in a few different games with it. I have noticed that the relationship cheat no longer works for me. It doesn't work with pets and it no longer works with sims.
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Yes it isn't working for me either. I guess either the latest patch broke it or Cats and Dogs.
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New
Lurkersays...
Just wanted to, for once, thank ypu Carl for your guides and all the great work you do with this page. I've been regularly coming here since TS3 and when I'll get rich a donation for your page is on my to-do list. Thank you ! Lots of love from Finland!
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Regular
Alliesays...
Hey there,

If I play with ageing off, will this also apply to pets?

Thanks,

Allie
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Yes, the age setting are global and apply to pets the same as sims.
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New
shelby pylesays...
the vet skill goes up real fast and i'm surprised there isn't any training skill level books
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New
Sims Loversays...
Hi there! I want to invite my pets to my wedding on Sims but it’s not letting me, any tips?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
I don't think this interaction is possible. You could travel to the lot with your pets instead. That way they will be there when you start the wedding party.
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New
Christina Lee Breusays...
Help I want my pets to be there but don't want to do anything. Lol I just want them to look pretty. They keep wreaking my furniture, peeing all over the house, one has fleas.
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Senior
Playalotsays...
When your pet does a misbehaviour (scratching, peeing inside etc) a social interaction will appear for your sim when you click on the pet. It will say something like 'lecture about scratching'. Use this interaction each time your pet misbehaves and the pets will quickly learn (be trained) not to do that action.
If you take your pet outdoors and then ask it to pee, it will learn to pee outside... and so on.
When your pet gets fleas take it to a vet clinic and check it in. The NPC vet will cure it. You can buy vet treats from the vending machine in a vet clinic. There is one to enhance your pets well-being. (I think it is called wellness treat.) Feeding these to your pets will help them to stay healthy for longer.
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New
Cherrisays...
So I started out with a puppy and I wanted to age it up. I’ve bought an age up bar but I’m not entirely sure how to feed it to said puppy. Any ideas?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Have the vet treat in your sims personal inventory and click on the pet. There should be an option to "feed pet vet treat."
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New
Brina Maesays...
How long does it take for puppies to age up or can I force age them like sims? I'm not sure if I'm missing something
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Takes about 3 sim days. If you have aging off for your sims then they will never age but you can buy an aging-up vet treat from the vending machine in a vets clinic. When you feed this to your pet it will age up.
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New
AltMedDudesays...
That's useful, my sims don't age cuz I took up to train them all and spread them around kicking out everyone else, I'm also making alien males to breed :D

I been thinking about how to age my puppy up, this is very helpful, thanks.
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New
Kristensays...
I’m confused. Are there unicorns?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
No. In The Sims 4 Cat and Dogs expansion there are just cats and dogs.
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New
Maevesays...
Haha, no. This is the Cats and Dogs pack. Nothing else besides cats and dogs.
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New
Lillysays...
Not sure what's so confusing about this... its literally called "The Sims™ 4 Cats & Dogs"... Laugh
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New
Flubbablubsays...
You can colour a dog or cat unicorn colour if you want? :D
Admin: CAS is very good in thei pack. Anything is possible.
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New
Christina Lee Breusays...
Anyone know how to get rid of fleas? MY cat got them literally 5 seconds after I made hi. I'm examining him n the vet table to see if that does anything.
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New
Christina Lee Breusays...
I gave him a surgery and the fleas went away.
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Regular
Jennifersays...
*need help * I have 4 pet carries that where dropped by the adoption process and now the won't disappear. Have tried build and buy, it won't let me grab and delete them. And I have also tried debugging them.
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Has the NPC sim that brings them left your lot? If not they will disappear when the NPC sim leaves once you have either adopted a pet or chosen to not adopt.
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New
Kyliesays...
I had this issue when selling my puppies. The carrier was stuck inside an enclosed wall space. The guy left and I was unable to enter build/buy mode, call another adopter, or save my game. Debug didn't work. I had to quit the game entirely!
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New
Rubysays...
ok so this game is not I the xbox one, I can not find it anywhere do you know where I could find this???
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Oh, sad news this is a known bug. Not sure if there are any work arounds yet. Bug Report here:
Bug Report EA: Problems with Pet Adoption
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New
Christina Lee Breusays...
Cheat code to max the vet skill is stats.set_skill_level Major_Vet 10
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New
Brina Maesays...
Is there any way to take strays to the vet for treatment? I have a dog in my home that I brought in off the street and he's really sick, but I can't seem to help him unless I adopt him. Is there something else I can do?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
You could try placing the vet bench item on your home lot and treating the stray there. Apart from that adoption really is the only way. Note that if you travel away from the lot that the stray is on the game will clean up the strays anyway as they are just game generated NPC's and normally do not stay in the world for very long. They are a bit heart breaking to see sick though.Smile
You can 'cure' them with cheats. Enable testingcheats on then 'reset object' followed by 'make happy'.
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New
Lovely Taysays...
If you have a high enough veterinarian skill you will be able to make the wellness treat at the “Dr. Magi-Heal’s Medicine Craft-O-Matic” Station. When your sims has the treat in his/her inventory you can click on the stray pet, or any pet(not just strays), and click the action “Give Vet Treat”, you should then give the pet the wellness treat and it will instantly cure them!
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New
Vignesays...
Try to avoid the preventative treatment after giving your pet a check up at the vet. It is supposed to give what we assume should be a temporary moodlet to your pet where they become afraid of the vet. It is currently bugged and the uncomfortable moodlet seems to be permanent with no currently known way to get rid of it. This will cause your pets to meow/bark constantly since they are trying to let you know they are afraid. Since this was supposed to be temporary, there is no "calm down" option for it. There is a post for this in the Answers HQ where I posted a really weak bandaid (it only stops the moodlet for a few Sim hours).
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Senior
Playalotsays...
This can happen even if you simply visit a vet clinic with your pet, not even checking them in. I ended up having to delete the game file as there really is no way to get rid of this negative mood. Sad
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New
Vignesays...
Ya, its rough. You can kind of cover up the uncomfortable moodlet by keeping the pet happy but its only like a really soggy bandaid, not too helpful. Hopefully they patch this quick.
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Regular
Lisasays...
Would using the remove moodlet cheat help with this? I haven’t had this issue yet as I just got the expansion but just a thought. This cheat: Sims.remove_all_buffs
Admin: This bug with the Preventative Shot was fixed in patch 12/12/17 - PC 1.37.35.1010 / Mac 1.37.35.1210 So players should now not be having any issues with the preventative shot from the vet clinic. The wellness treat however is still causing pets to have a negative mood endlessly!
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New
SImologysays...
Can anyone tell me how the vet career works? I’ve hired 2 employees and I have too vet work benches and neither of the employees take animals to the work bench. They only clean the clinic. The employees are both level one, do they have to be level 2+ in order to start examining patients? Thanks in advance.
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Senior
Playalotsays...
They should be able to take tend to pets. Is it a routing issue? Can your own sim use the exam tables?
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New
Kinshisays...
What are pets' lifespans like?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
A Table with the pet life spans are here on this page of the guide. Scroll down to see it.
Adopting, Training and Caring For Pets
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New
Kitsuikosays...
So, kids can't take their dogs for walks? I tried with my kid and that doesn't seem to be something she's able to do, though her parents could. That's kind of a bummer.
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New
Cherrisays...
So I started out with a puppy and I wanted to age it up. I’ve bought an age up bar but I’m not entirely sure how to feed it to said puppy. Any ideas?
Gravatar
Senior
Playalotsays...
With the age bar in your sims inventory you should be able to click on your puppy and choose an interaction 'feed vet treat'.
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New
Ciarasays...
so i have these 2 dogs one male and one female so they could breed but whenever i do the encourage to mate interaction they just end up growling at each other, can anyone help me so i can get them to have puppies please ?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Try asking one animal to be friendly to the other first. Your sim will need to know both the pets in question for this interaction to work.
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Regular
Samanthasays...
Hey, so I’ve noticed the vending machine at the vet office is empty. Assumed the Sim had to make the stuff with the crafts table so that’s what I did but I can’t figure out how to actually put anything in the vending machine... anybody know?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
If it is an NPC run vet clinic it should be full. If your sim runs the clinic you will need to craft the items and then click on the vending machine with the items in your sims inventory. From there you can transfer them over.
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New
Natashasays...
is there hamsters and other animals like in the sims 3?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
No. In The Sims 4 Cats and Dogs expansion pack there are just cats and dogs.
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Regular
Mariasays...
You know when you adopt a pet and get to see them first and then choose the one you want to adopt, I don't want any of them and I don't know how to make them go away, any help?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Talk to the animal welfare worker and select, 'end adoption evaluation'

Guide to Adopting, Training and Caring for Your Pet
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New
Livsays...
Hi im having an issue with breeding i keep encouraging the dogs to mate (one male one female) and they still aren't having puppies, my sim is good friends with both dogs, any suggestions?
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Senior
Playalotsays...
There seems to be a few players having this problem. You could try making the pets be friendly with each other first. Also try again in a brand new game with no CC and no Mods.
Post On Forum about same problem
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New
neavesays...
get your character to click on the dog and press be friendly to and click on the dog you want it to mate with this may help cause it will build the dogs friendship up and may help the two animals to breed
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Regular
Lizsays...
does anyone know what to do when a pet goes into labour, im not sure and ive taken her to the vet but theres nothing there and theres no interactions with her to help with birth
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Senior
Playalotsays...
My understanding is it will just happen automatically. If you stop interacting with your pregnant pet for a bit it should just eventually have it's puppies/kittens.


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