How do you get a pet in The Sims 4?
Buy the Cats & Dogs expansion pack. Then adopt a cat or a dog by phone, adopt a stray, or build a pet in Create a Sim. The pack is the main way to get a pet that you can play with.
Other packs add smaller animals. Cottage Living adds chickens, cows, and llamas. My First Pet Stuff adds rodents in a tank. Realm of Magic adds familiars. Each way has its own rules, and this guide lists them.
We read two guides for this post: Snooty Sims (November 2023) and Sims Community (March 2023). Both are older than the newest packs. Neither guide gives the price of a pack. Check the store page before you buy. You read this on the LifeSim blog. We make a browser life sim, and we say where our game does not fit.
How do you get a cat or a dog?
You need the Cats & Dogs expansion pack. You have three ways to start.
Adopt a pet with the phone
Your Sim uses the phone or the computer to adopt. A pet social worker brings the pet to your home. Your Sim spends time with the pet first. Snooty Sims says a Sim can pick up to 3 animals to meet or keep.
Adopt a stray
Strays walk around Brindleton Bay. They also appear if your lot has the Cat Hangout or Dog Hangout lot trait. Befriend the animal. Then click it and choose Adopt.
Build a pet in Create a Sim
You can make a pet from nothing. You choose the breed, the fur marks, and the clothes. You can also use genetics, or download a pet from the Gallery.
Can you get a fox or a raccoon?
Yes, with some limits. The two guides agree that raccoons and foxes are cat and dog breeds from the Cats & Dogs pack. Snooty Sims says a fox is a dog with a different fur and voice. Sims Community says they have a small chance to show up in phone adoption. The wild foxes from Cottage Living are pests. You cannot keep them.
What other pets can your Sim keep?
The table lists the animals that the two guides name. Each row needs the pack in the first column.
| Pack | Animals | How you get them |
|---|---|---|
| Cats & Dogs | Cats, dogs | Phone, stray, Create a Sim |
| Cottage Living | Chickens, cows, llamas | Buy a coop or a shed, then buy the animal |
| My First Pet Stuff | Hamster, rat, hedgehog, Bubalus | Buy a habitat in Build/Buy |
| Realm of Magic | Familiars | Become a spellcaster, then buy one in Caster’s Alley |
| Eco Lifestyle | Beetles, worms, crickets | Buy an insect farm |
| Seasons | Bees | Place a beehive |
| Base game | Fish, frogs, space aliens | Fish them, find them, or fly a rocket |
Some of these are not pets in the full sense. Snooty Sims calls fish, frogs, aliens, and insects collectibles. They need little care and have few interactions.
Can you get farm animals and small pets?
Chickens, cows, and llamas
You need Cottage Living. Buy a coop for chickens, or a shed for cows and llamas. Place it on your lot. Click it to buy the animal. Sims Community says a rooster and a hen together can make eggs that you can hatch.
Hamsters, rats, and hedgehogs
You need My First Pet Stuff. Buy a habitat and place it on your lot. Sims Community lists a hamster, a rat, a hedgehog, and the voidcritter Bubalus. Snooty Sims says that the pack is hard to enjoy without Cats & Dogs.
Rabbits, birds, and dust bunnies
Cottage Living lets your Sim befriend wild rabbits and birds with gifts. The Sim cannot adopt them. The Bust the Dust Kit adds dust bunnies. Sims Community lists the kit at $5. Let the house get dusty, then befriend a dust bunny. It stays after you clean.
Familiars
Your Sim must be a spellcaster first. Buy a familiar in Caster’s Alley, in the Magic Realm. Click it in the inventory to bind it to your Sim. Sims Community says a familiar can also bring your Sim back if the Sim dies.
Can you get pets without the Cats & Dogs pack?
Yes, but the choice is small. The base game gives you fish and frogs. Your Sim can catch fish at any fishing spot. Then buy a fish bowl, click it, and add the catch. Frogs live in watering holes, in stumps, and at park ponds. Two or more frogs can breed in a terrarium.
Space aliens are a third option. Buy a rocket launch pad and build a rocket. Sims Community says the Expand Cargo Bay upgrade raises your chance to find aliens. Some aliens live in a terrarium, and others come back as preserved specimens.
Snooty Sims names a last route for PC and Mac: custom content. The guide says that content adds sheep, pigs, squirrels, and ducks. Consoles cannot use it. Read our guide to Sims 4 CC before you install any file.
Which pack should you buy for pets?
Buy Cats & Dogs first. It is the only pack in the guides that gives full cat and dog play. The other packs add animals that live on your lot or in a tank. Buy those later if you want a farm or a small pet.
The rule: pick the animal first, then buy the pack that holds it. For a list of all packs, read how many Sims 4 expansion packs there are. For a first purchase, read which Sims 4 expansion pack to buy first. For the install steps, read how to install Sims 4 packs.
Does LifeSim have pets?
This is a question where LifeSim does not fit. We do not claim pets, and our guides do not list them. LifeSim is about people. You live one life in a real city, and the people there remember what you say.
If you want a house with a dog in it, stay with The Sims 4. If you want to talk to a person who remembers you, read how LifeSim works. The full comparison is in LifeSim vs The Sims.
What we could not verify
- The price of each pack. Neither guide lists it. Only the Bust the Dust Kit has a price, $5.
- The newest packs. Both guides are from 2023, so they may miss later animals.
- The exact phone menu names. Neither guide gives the full menu path.
- The fox and raccoon rules. The two guides word them in different ways.