Pet Life

Pets live their own lives: they sleep, go to the toilet, and enjoy a walk, much like real animals.

Sleeping

When a pet gets tired (or at night, if it's idle) it goes to sleep:

to its rest spot, if you set one with the Pet Whistle;
otherwise parrots fly to the nearest Bird Perch, and cats, ocelots, dogs, foxes and rabbits go to the nearest Pet Bed;
bigger animals (cows, horses, pigs...) just lie down where they are. Each animal's page shows its sleeping pose.

If it can't get there for a while it tries a random spot nearby, and if that fails too it naps where it stands. It wakes up when it's rested, when it's hurt, or when you give it an order.

Like the real thing, a dog (or fox) turns round once on the spot before it lies down, and a cat kneads its bed first. Asleep, dogs twitch their paws now and then as if they're dreaming. Cats often skip the bed and nap on top of a Cat Tree instead.

A pet that's following you naps where it stands, unless there's a pet bed within a few blocks of you; then it curls up in that.

Bedtime together: when you sleep in a bed, a pet on Follow within 16 blocks lies down to sleep near you, in a pet bed close by if there is one. It gets up again once you're awake.

A dog asleep in a pet bed — Dogs lie down with their chin on their paws.

A parrot on a bird perch — Parrots roost on a perch, and sit on it during the day too.

Farm animals lying down — Farm animals fold their legs and lie down to sleep.

A turtle, frog, axolotl, bee, sniffer and armadillo asleep — Turtles pull their head in, frogs hunker down, axolotls lie flat, bees land and fold their wings, sniffers lie down and armadillos roll into a ball.

Cat Tree

Put a Cat Tree near your cats (within about 16 blocks) and they'll use it now and then, all on their own:

Scratching: a cat walks up to the sisal post, stands up on its hind legs and rakes its claws down it. It enjoys that (Mood up).
Lounging: it leaps up onto the top perch and stretches out there for a while, then jumps back down.
Napping: when it's tired, a cat without a rest spot often picks the top of the tree over its bed.

Only one cat uses a tree at a time. A cat that's following you comes down when you walk off.

A cat scratching the post — Up on its hind legs, raking the post.

A cat lounging on the cat tree — Stretched out on the top perch.

Grooming and play

Now and then, when nothing else is going on, a cat sits down to lick a paw and wash its face, and a dog sits and scratches behind its ear with a hind leg. Both keep themselves a little cleaner (Hygiene).

Kittens and puppies play on their own: one stalks a littermate low and slow, wiggles, pounces, and they tumble about together. A youngster with nobody to play with chases its own tail.

Pets make the little noises you'd expect, too: cats purr while you stroke them and while they knead their bed, and a dog lets out a sigh as it flops down to sleep.

Parrots on your shoulder

A pet parrot that's following you lands on your shoulder, just like in vanilla. Riding along, it rests and enjoys your company (Energy and Mood go up), and it gets hungry and thirsty only slowly. When it does, it squawks and you get a message, so let it down to eat and drink (sneak, the vanilla way).

Parrots copy the calls of mobs around them, and a shoulder parrot uses that to warn you: when a monster comes close or starts coming after you, it calls out in that monster's voice and you see which one.

Toilet

Only cats, ocelots, dogs and foxes have a Bladder need. Each goes where it would in real life:

Pet	Goes to	If there's nowhere to go
Cat, Ocelot	Litter Box	Accident on the floor
Dog	Pee Pad, otherwise outside on grass, dirt or sand	Waits by the door and whines, then has an accident
Fox	Litter Box (pet foxes are often litter trained), otherwise outside	Waits by the door, then has an accident

Cat in a litter box — Cats step into the box and squat on the litter.

Dog on a pee pad — Dogs are trained to use a pee pad indoors.

Litter Box

More on the Litter Box page. Each use adds waste. When it's full, or out of litter, cats do their business on the floor instead. Clean it with a shovel (you get a Bag of Pet Waste, which works like bone meal) and refill it with Cat Litter or sand. Every cleaning uses up some litter. Right-click it to see how full it is.

Pee Pad

More on the Pee Pad page. A pad soaks up 3 uses and gets more stained each time. Then break it (a used pad is thrown away) and put down a fresh one. Right-click it to see how many uses are left.

Going outside

Dogs and foxes without a pad (or with a full one) head outside onto grass, dirt, moss, mud or sand under the open sky. Afterwards they scratch the ground with their hind legs. Sometimes they leave a mess behind, just like on a walk.

A dog scratching the ground — The classic scratch after doing its business.

Waiting by the door

A dog that needs to go out but can't get there goes to the nearest door, sits facing it and whines. You get a message that it wants to go out. Open the door and it heads straight out. If nobody comes, it eventually can't hold it any longer.

A dog sitting by a door — Let me out, please!

Accidents and mess

An accident leaves a Pet Mess on the floor and lowers the pet's hygiene and mood. Puddles dry up on their own; the rest has to be cleaned up (break it). Pets that walk through a mess get dirty.

Walks

Put your dog (or fox) on a lead and take it out. While walking it wags its tail and its Mood goes up. On grass, dirt or sand it stops now and then to do its business, which empties its bladder. About half the time it leaves something to scoop up, then it scratches the ground.

Tie the lead to a fence post and the pet waits there. It still goes to a bowl or trough within about 6 blocks of the post when it's hungry or thirsty, but standing at a post isn't a walk, so its mood doesn't go up.

Tip: a daily walk means your dog hardly needs a pee pad at all.