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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 12th Dec 2014 at 3:22 AM
Default Dealing with the pets
I was just thinking about how I could never keep any pets in ts3. I always had this weird emotional thing with them. I always want to get a puppy or a kitten when my sims start to grow their family, I guess because that's how I was raised. Not having animals in my own home makes it feel like it's not a home at all.
I always feel like my sims are so occupied with their work and taking care of the children that my pets are neglected. Once I can see that their social meter is down, I feel sad so I end up getting another pet for them to keep company. Sometimes it's just too much that I will put them up for adoption, and immediately regret the decision, and again, feel sad for them. Now I just refrain from getting pets at all in my game. I don't think I could stand watching a pet die ): I've had the expansion since it came out, and I have never ever seen the process of a pet dying.
It's weird though because I don't feel half as bad when a sim dies, it can be a little sad if I've watched them grow old, or if it's unexpected like a fire or something, but pets always get me. Even when I start to think about them passing.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way, lol.
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 12th Dec 2014 at 3:48 AM
I can relate to your dilemma. I feel so bad if my sims have not time for their pets. This is why I only get them to families that are more "stay at home" and not the busy ones with many children.
One Minute Ninja'd
#3 Old 12th Dec 2014 at 11:40 AM
While it won't relieve your guilt at your sims not having enough time to play with your pets, there are a few workarounds you can use to keep their socials up. Cats love the cat house thingy (forgot it's proper description in the catalog, not the climbing carpeted one, the big ass house) that looks like a big dollhouse. Let them play in there, and even if they're the only cat, their social will stay high. For dogs, leave a stereo on, and have them "sing" along. It also raises their socials without another participant. Not as fun as watching your sims play with their pets, but at least you won't feel like YOU'RE letting the little ones suffer in isolation. Cats will also sing along, but the cat house seems more natural to me.

Oh, and pets dying? Way too upsetting to deal with. They gave Grimy all these great animations to transition the pet to the netherworld, and for me, they're way too heartbreaking to watch. I just use a young again potion, or whatever it's called for pets (forever young? something like that, as an LTR) just to avoid their passing. Sure, the same dog over several generations might be immersion breaking, but it beats wasting all the Kleenex I'd need to sit through their death.
And all the maladies of the world burst forth from Pandora's cooch
#4 Old 12th Dec 2014 at 8:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by eskie227

Oh, and pets dying? Way too upsetting to deal with. They gave Grimy all these great animations to transition the pet to the netherworld, and for me, they're way too heartbreaking to watch. I just use a young again potion, or whatever it's called for pets (forever young? something like that, as an LTR) just to avoid their passing. Sure, the same dog over several generations might be immersion breaking, but it beats wasting all the Kleenex I'd need to sit through their death.
The first time I had a sim kitty die, my sim cried for three days. I cried for four.
Alchemist
#5 Old 15th Dec 2014 at 10:19 PM
Maybe I'm just weird, but, I've always found losing a pet in the real world to be more upsetting than losing a collection of animal-shaped pixels. The most I've ever felt over it is mild disappointment.

"The more you know, the sadder you get."~ Stephen Colbert
"I'm not going to censor myself to comfort your ignorance." ~ Jon Stewart
Versigtig, ek's nog steeds fokken giftig
Mad Poster
#6 Old 15th Dec 2014 at 10:38 PM
Yeah, losing a real pet affects me more than a Sims pet. When my Sim kitty died in an oooold save I was more surprised that it was an elder.
Instructor
#7 Old 16th Dec 2014 at 5:50 AM
I use cheats to keep my pets alive because I cannot stand seeing them die, ever.
Alchemist
#8 Old 16th Dec 2014 at 8:51 AM
Turn your dilemma into a challenge for yourself, can your sims do anything to get them time to spend more time with the pet? Such as hire a maid? Use an all-in-one bathroom? Buy lifetime point rewards that makes your sim less hungrier? Perhaps calling to work saying your sim is sick even though he/she is not? Spend less time cooking, eating meals straight from the fridge?
One Minute Ninja'd
#9 Old 17th Dec 2014 at 12:17 AM
Quote: Originally posted by ZenGarden
Turn your dilemma into a challenge for yourself, can your sims do anything to get them time to spend more time with the pet? Such as hire a maid? Use an all-in-one bathroom?......................


Now I can't stop thinking, what happens if a pet uses the all-in-one bathroom? Does kitty get transported to the netherworld like with some tubs? Can doggie use it to get clean and get a free rest stop out of it?

I haven't had a pet in game since those things were released (crap, no pets for a long time, huh?) and after reading that statement, I'm oddly curious.
Alchemist
#10 Old 17th Dec 2014 at 10:34 AM
Quote: Originally posted by eskie227
Now I can't stop thinking, what happens if a pet uses the all-in-one bathroom? Does kitty get transported to the netherworld like with some tubs? Can doggie use it to get clean and get a free rest stop out of it?

I haven't had a pet in game since those things were released (crap, no pets for a long time, huh?) and after reading that statement, I'm oddly curious.


I don't know if a pet can use an all-in-one bathroom I was thinking of the owner of the pet
Test Subject
#11 Old 24th Feb 2015 at 9:22 PM
I know how you feel, But I know how to help! All you have to do is take unpaid time off work so you can take care of your pets, our cheat......and keep their mood levels high by using testingcheatsenabled true....
Scholar
#12 Old 24th Feb 2015 at 11:55 PM
Performer careers help with pets IMHO, since you're on your own schedule. If you need to spend an extra hour to play with the kitty, you can just do so.

But yeah, personally I always get pets in pairs, so they can keep each other company.

Edit: oh, one more tip: kitty can also play with a neighbour's pet. Hell, you don't even have to ask to spend the night. They don't seem to mind an extra cat or dog who forgot to leave.
Instructor
#13 Old 25th Feb 2015 at 3:43 AM
Quote: Originally posted by diamonddogrules
keep their mood levels high by using testingcheatsenabled true....


That's what I do.
I have a thing about pets in real life, unless it's cold, super hot, or raining.... they don't stay inside when no one is home, and they don't leave the yard. So I always build little fenced in areas outside for my sim pets when everyone is at work/school, and then use cheats for their social need. It just goes down so fast.
You can direct the pet to interact with other pets in the world though, if you aren't a mean person like me. :P

And isn't there a LTR that slows the meter down, or stops it completely? Maybe I'm thinking about something else.
Scholar
#14 Old 25th Feb 2015 at 11:20 PM
BTW, I'd also add my standard The Sims advice: if you feel like you don't have enough time in a lifetime to do everything you want (get a promotion, throw a party, play with kitty, etc)... just give yourself more time.

The most obvious way is to just drag the lifetime duration bar as far right as you need. So basically you don't need to ride your sim's ass so hard every day for skills/friends/whatever, that OSHA starts asking that you install safety railing on that sim's ass. And that they don't have time for the pet. Give yourself time to smell the roses and whatnot.

Or, of course, you can get bitten in the neck, or just disable aging entirely, etc.

Other people also seem to have good results with NRaas Relativity. Personally I prefer to give myself more days, than more time in a day, but the latter does seem to work for other people. Might want to give it a try.
Lab Assistant
#15 Old 26th Feb 2015 at 12:28 AM
Quote: Originally posted by BL00DIEDHELL
Yeah, losing a real pet affects me more than a Sims pet. When my Sim kitty died in an oooold save I was more surprised that it was an elder.


My problem is I'm still trying to deal with losing my real kitty... I don't need to be having my Sim kitty dying
Mad Poster
#16 Old 26th Feb 2015 at 6:08 AM
If you have two sim pets, they can socialize with each other and that helps keep them from getting lonely. And I usually have the sim brush the pet every day and make the gourmet food.
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