Interacting with Cats

Affection, Care, and Play

Cats love to let their Sims pamper them. Sims can feed them treats, hug them, pet them, and even pick them up and give them a big smooch. All of these affectionate socials build LTR and Social. Sims should also brush cats regularly. Cats can groom themselves, but this builds up a chance of getting a hairball. Brushing a cat resets this counter, making hairballs less likely. Sims can also play around with their cats, chasing them and having fun.

Sims can also Pick Up a cat and carry it around. This builds Social and LTR between the cat and the Sim.

Reinforcement

Along with care, affection, and play, cats need a little... direction. One doesn’t actually train a cat, of course. But Sims can encourage the behavior they prefer by using the Reinforcement menu to Praise or Scold the cat’s behavior. This reinforcement actually alters the cat’s traits. A Destructive cat can learn to scratch a post instead of the furniture. A Skittish cat can learn to be more Adventurous. With proper reinforcement, new traits can show up on a cat’s Simology tab. Traits that have been added due to training have a thick green border, and say Trained in the tool tip. Pets can have variable number of traits, depending on the reinforcement they receive.

But wait... cats are fully controllable. Can’t you just direct your cats to behave appropriately? Sure, you can do this. But the training mechanism provides a representation of the interactive relationships people have with their pets. Cats will modify their behavior when properly directed. The autonomous behavior of well trained pets will be more in line with what you want. That means you can spend less time directing your pets, and more time enjoying them.

Other Interactions

Bathe Pet

We mentioned under Hygiene, above, how much cats hate to be bathed. In fact, it’s overwhelmingly likely that if a Sim attempts to bathe a cat, the cat will claw the Sim and run off. This badly harms the relationship between the cat and the Sim, and gives the Sim the negative Cat Scratch moodlet, which lasts a whole day. Keep your cats well brushed, keep them inside when possible, and never let a flea infestation happen. As long as your cats don’t get fleas, you can avoid bathing them.

Customize Collar And Coats

This option takes the cat into a modified version of Create a Sim where you can change the cat’s accessories, or alter fur shape, or fur color, or tail.

Change your cat’s collar, coat color, fur shape, or tail through the Customize Collar and Coat option.

Guard

Like dogs can, cats can guard certain objects or the whole house. Cats can choose to do this, or Sims child and older can direct their cats to guard the house. Cats can guard the same objects dogs can: Pet bed, Pet house, Pet bowl, Harvestable plants, Cat condo, Parked car.

If non-household or low-LTR Sims or pets try to approach the guarded object, the cat will hiss. Sim generally back away from a guard cat, and Coward Sims will flee.

Burglars are actually more likely to try robbing the home, which is fun because even cats have a pretty good chance of catching the Burglar in the act! Genius pets can sense the Burglar from farther away, while Clueless pets have a harder time noticing him unless he’s right nearby. Aggressive pets always catch the Burglar, while Lazy pets often fall asleep and don’t notice!

If a guard cat detects a Burglar, the cat runs to the bad guy and hisses ferociously. This wakes the household Sims, who automatically call the cops. The Burglar might freak out, run away, or ignore the cat and steal something anyway. Otherwise the cops come, and that’s one less malefactor in Appaloosa Plains, thanks to the valiant guard kitty.

Hunting Interactions

Once a cat has leaned Hunting skill, a Hunting option appears when a Sim clicks on the cat. Sims can ask the cat to Go Catch Something, or Go Catch a specific prey type. Genius cats are more likely to understand the prey type being requested, while Clueless cats are less likely. With either of these interactions, the cat will present the hunt result to the Sim.

Other Cat Interactions

Cats have a few other self-directed interactions, such as Run Around and Pee. They can also sniff or beg from Sims, chase them in a friendly or mean way, follow them, have fun with them, or ask to be petted or brushed. Cats can also pounce on other cats or kittens in either a mean or playful way. When done playfully, pounce builds Fun, LTR, and Social. Whether mean or playful, it builds Hunting skill.

See the New Socials chart in the New Simology chapter for full details of each social.