Being all alone on a farm you inherited without a soul to keep you company can be a little lonely. The game’s creator, Concerned Ape (Eric Barone), had this in mind, so he added a variety of pets to the game that the player can own and take care of. They are cute and friendly, sometimes annoying, but no one can deny they are a good addition to the game.
Today you will learn all about pets you can adopt in the game and how to take care of them. Also, I will include some mods that expand the variety of pets and their whole mechanic.
How To Choose Pets in Stardew Valley
When you start a new game and go to the character creation screen, you’ll have the option to choose one of six available pets (3 cats and 3 dogs).
You’ll be able to choose between:
- Orange Cat
- Golden Cat
- Grey Cat
- Blue-Collar Dog which is probably Golden Retriever
- German Shepherd
- Red-Collar Dog
Once you reach 4 hearts with the Wizard, you’ll be able to change the style of your pet or dog by using the Shrine of Illusions and paying 500 gold.
When You Will Obtain Your First Pet
So after you earn the 1,000 gold, Marnie will appear on Wednesday or Friday morning (depending on which day you earned 1,000 gold), and she’ll inform you that she found a stray cat or dog (depending on which one you choose) nearby your farm. Then you’ll have the option to decide if you want to adopt the stray animal, and if you do, voila, you have a pet.
If you don’t earn 1,000 gold during your first Spring, don’t worry because Marnie will appear anyway on Spring 20th.
After you obtain your new fellow pet, you’ll be able to give it a unique name. There are no restrictions but, choose the name carefully because you won’t be able to change it.
How To Take Care Of Your Pet
The friendship level with your pet affects the Grandpa’s Evaluation once you reach friendship points of 999 (and the maximum is 1000 yeah).
There are two ways to take care of and increase the friendship with your pet. The first one is to pet it every day and it gives you 20 friendship points, while the other one is to fill its bowl with water and it gives you 6 friendship points.
You won’t be able to check how many friendship points you have until you reach the maximum amount. Then the message will pop up saying that your pet loves you.
Luckily the friendship can’t be decreased.
Problems With Pets
The fact is that perfect pets don’t exist, and every one of them can be mischievous from time to time. That also happens in Stardew Valley, as pets from time to time love to make things harder for players. So now I’ll address three main problems pets make and how to fix them.
Blocking your path in the house.
It’s common for pets to obstruct your path as you enter your cabin. This can happen when they block the entrance to your main room, where the bed is located, or to a specific room once you’ve upgraded your cabin. In my experience, they often choose the worst timing, such as when I’m trying to get to bed late at night. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution to this problem. You can just nudge them aside by pushing against them, and eventually, they’ll move out of your way.
Preventing You From Sleeping
Oh, this one is the worst. If you are playing the game with your loved one and you share the bed, or if you are married to an NPC and share the bed with them, your pet can prevent you from hitting the sack if the other player or NPC goes to bed before you do and the pet joins them.
A true fix for this doesn’t exist but you can work a way around it.
| Single Player | Multi–player |
|---|---|
| Have a spare bed in cabin | Go to bed at the same time |
The second one works for both single and multiplayer, and it’s simple but not efficient. The solution is to have a spare bed in your cabin.
The Pet Lies On Crops
Your pet may decide to take a nap on your crop, preventing you from watering or harvesting it. Luckily, the fix is just to wait it out.
Stardew Valley Pet Mods
So now, as we have gone through all the crucial information about pets and how to take care of them, it’s time to list some cool mods that affect your little furry friends. Keep in mind that every one of them can work together with one another.
- Adopt ‘n’ Skin by Gathouria
- Cats and Dogs by DelphinWave
- Cat Gifts by skuldomg
Also, there is a good number of reskin mods that can turn your cats or dogs into anything from dinosaurs to pokemon. However, there are a lot of them and it’s best if you explore and find them yourself in the Pets/Horses segment on the Nexus Mods site.
Conclusion
Congrats, you now have all the knowledge needed about pets and how to take care of them, and I’m sure you will be the best possible owner.