When The Sims 4 released back in 2014, but it lacked one feature more than anything else: Pets. Most people who have pets would, I think, I agree with the statement that your pet is part of your family. The Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack for The Sims 4 remedied this when it was released, giving players the ability to create pets for their Sims' household.
But, it didn't stop there. The Sims has an active (and occasionally very strange) modding community, and they were hard at work upon the release of the Pets expansion, expanding options and interactions available for your pets. There's a wide variety of mods out there, so I've compiled what I think are the 10 best, or at least most interesting, mods available.
Updated on the March 8th, 2020 by Anastasia Maillot: It's been about three years since Cats & Dogs came out. At its height, it was the most popular expansion for The Sims 4, until it was topped by Seasons and Discover University. Since then, pets are a feature of the game that has aged somewhat poorly.
With so few interactions available and the lack of control over pets, as well as the glaring lack of variety in pets in the first place, there's a desperate need for better pets in The Sims 4. While we wait for news about a potential The Sims 5 or a brand new expansion that could deepen pet gameplay, we're sharing five more mods to diversify cats and dogs gameplay.
15 15. Kids Can Walk Dogs
There's nothing like a big family with a dog, but it can often get pretty busy in a legacy save file. Adults might not always be around to do all the pet related chores, such as walking and feeding the dogs. For some reason, EA never made it so that kids could also take dogs for a walk, even though this happens in real life all the time.
Thankfully, this mod fixes that. Kids can now take their family dogs on a walk. The interaction is pretty much identical to the adult one, although there are some small animation issues in-game. What's cool is that kids can some responsibility bonuses by performing this task.
14 14. Angelic Cat Stuff
The expansion for cats and dogs doesn't only introduce these two pets, but it also comes with a whole host of various accessories and outfits pets can wear. There aren't that many to choose from unfortunately, and it can get boring, particularly if the player wants to give their pet a super unique look.
This angelic cat pack is a perfect addition to any player's game. It adds a set of cute angel wings for cats, along with a small golden halo that hovers above their heads. The halo is considered a hat, and can be found in the head section of CAS.
13 13. Big Pet Pandas
We haven't seen that many exotic animals in The Sims franchise. The Sims 3 gave players farm animals, but aside from that animals have been few and far between. Most likely, this is to enforce the fact that exotic pets are usually pretty unethical to have in real life as well. However, this is a game, so why restrict things?
This mod allows players to basically have a big panda as their pet. The model is based on that of a large dog, so it definitely won't look perfect all the time, but it's still pretty close to how a normal panda would look like. For anyone wanting to create a panda sanctuary in-game, this is such a cool mod to add.
12 12. Three Cat Tails
While the expansion lets players create some of the more generic variations of cats and dogs, it doesn't really take into account fantasy animals. Realm of Magic may have introduced familiars to players, but they can't be customized and have a lot of limitations in terms of interactions.
Modders come to the rescue again with mods like this one, which introduces a new cat tail model. For players who have always dreamed of having a magical cat, it's a cool little addition to bring some supernatural cat-like creatures into the game.
11 11. Walk Your Cats
Dogs generally are the only animal that need to be walked, but it's fully possible to walk cats as well in real life. It can be a great way to ensure a cat gets their daily dose of activity and fresh air, even if it might be a really strange sight for all the dog walkers around. It's a shame The Sims 4 didn't include it in the expansion.
Like for most peculiar needs, there's a mod out there that lets players walk their cats. The mod isn't without its imperfections, but for storytelling purposes it's absolutely brilliant to have something like this in the game.
10 10. Control Your Pets
First and foremost, the biggest complaint people had about the Pets Expansion Pack for The Sims 4 is that you couldn't control your pets like you could in The Sims 3. It was honestly just a strip-down of features, but the situation is remedied somewhat with the Control Your Pets mod.
This allows you to control certain aspects of your cats and dogs, and although the mod is admittedly a little bit limited, they're trying to continually add more options as time goes on. It's still a big improvement over having no control over your pets whatsoever.
9 9. Real Eyes
They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and if you can't find your pet's soul while looking into their cartoony eyes in The Sims 4, then you're in luck. The Real Eyes mod changes the eyes to look a bit more natural, more realistic, instead of the cartoony nature of them in the vanilla game.
They definitely don't fit the art style of the whole game nearly as well as the default eyes, but they do add a certain liveliness that the default eyes can lack sometimes.
8 8. Animal Eyes
Okay, so maybe you like your pet's eyes. Maybe, in fact, you want eyes exactly like your pet's eyes. Well, you're also in luck! The Animal Eyes mod adds the option to give your Sim some seriously memorable eyes. This gives an increase in the amount of eye color options available, but more importantly, gives a different kind of eye shape, too.
Give your Sim some snake or dragon eyes for a more reptilian feel, or go with some kinder-looking eyes by choosing the husky or cat eyes.
7 7. Three-Legged Pets
It can be frustrating in a game when you know exactly how to create something or someone, but the option to create it just isn't available. Well, for anybody with a three-legged best friend out there, this mod is made for you.
Create dog and cat Sims that are missing one of their appendages, with options for either a front leg or a back leg missing. This will go a long way towards making some people feel like they truly have their own pet in their game, and that's really awesome.
6 6. Vet — Hire Whoever You Want!
If you fancy running a vet hospital in your Sims 4 game, but you have some Sims that you'd like to hire that are over-or-under qualified, you can ensure that you don't need to worry about it with this mod!
Before this mod, there were tons of qualified Sims out there to hire that had a skill-level just too high to have the option to hire, throwing a wrench in your well-laid plans. Theoretically, you could even run a family-owned vet clinic!
5 5. Pet Sale Price Increase
If you'd like to run a pet-breeding business, this mod has you covered! Before, this option wasn't too terribly viable simply because you couldn't fetch a high enough price for your lovable little animals.
However, with this mod, the price increases based partly on the traits of the animal in question. A well-behaved and playful pooch might get a higher price tag than a sour, stubborn one, and so on.
4 4. Red Panda
If you're more in the mood for some eccentric pet options, take a gander at this mod. The Red Panda mod does just about what you would expect; it adds red pandas to the game as a pet option.
Specifically, it creates them under a household that you can choose and play with. These animals were crafted really quite well and bear a surprising resemblance to their real-life counterparts.
3 3. More Recolors For Cats And Dogs
The More Recolors For Cats and Dogs mod is pretty straightforward; it adds more recolor options for your cats and dogs. The default game options are a little bit limited, and this mod strives to give you more options to perfectly craft the furry friend you desire.
With 10 extra recolor options, you're probably going to be able to get your pet to look a lot more like what you pictured when you started.
2 2. Demogorgon Cat Hat
If you're a fan of the show Stranger Things (who isn't?), or you've got the sneaking suspicion that your cat is planning your untimely demise, you'll want to take a look at this mod.
It adds a pretty cool-looking Demogorgon hat for your cat to wear, ensuring that you'll never leave your guard down around it again. Here's proof that cats probably are planning to murder all humans, even in The Sims 4.
1 1. Superman Shirts For Cats/Batman Shirts For Dogs
I'm cheating a little bit here because, technically, these are two mods, but c'mon; who's going to want one of these mods and not the other? For Simmers who want to turn their pets into superheroes, these cute Superman and Batman themed accessories are just what the doctor ordered.
This mod adds a Superman shirt to the game for the more trustworthy cats to wear, and a Batman shirt for the coolest dogs out there. The world's finest, all in one house.