13 replies to this topic

[starknight75]

I don't know why, but a cat that had been eating regularly suddenly cannot find its way to the food dish. The cat has been praised to eat pet food and has a full green bar, but now for some reason is will not eat, so its hunger motive keeps dropping. I have tried giving it the "Go Eat Food" command, but it will only eat if there is Sim food on the ground or a water puddle outside.

It is a genius, but it is also finicky. I don't know why these would have a particular effect on the cat, not when it had been eating before.

Please help!

[DianeHanna]

I had a dog once that refused to eat. He kept knocking his bowl around as he ate and then wouldn't go back to it if it was 'off square'. I ended up having to put the bowl out in the middle of the patio so he could get it from all sides. I've also had pets refuse to eat if the bowl needs cleaned. And some would only eat from the expensive bowl. Hope one of these solves the problem!

[starknight75]

Well, the cat is in a family with 3 other cats. The other 3 have no problem with eating when they're hungry. Oddly, no matter what, when I try using the "Call to Eat..." instruction from any of their 5 food bowls, it only identifies 1 of the 4 cats. 4 of the bowls are the least expensive and 1 is the most expensive. I am not sure what is going on, but--although I haven't played it out yet--the pet obedience trainer will be coming the next game morning.

Should I try letting this cat's "Eat Pet Food" drop all the way down to "Eat Sim Food" and then try building it back up to "Eat Pet Food"? Should I reset this particular pet? Is it even possible to reset a pet?

[DianeHanna]

I found a thread from 2009 in this forum, regarding this same subject. There was a suggestion to reset the pet, and also to give the pet up for adoption, then re-adopt him into the same family. I did notice that with my finicky dog, I would get the message "You need to take better care of your pet, Skipper is starving." I would start panicking because his hunger bar was completely red, and at the last possible second, he would finally eat. If you want to chance it, you could exit without saving, should the cat die, or get picked up by animal control.

I'm not sure how to direct you to the previous posts about this issue. I did a search of "starving" in the Sims2 forums and found 2 threads about pets that were relevant to your issue.

[starknight75]

Thanks, I'll try doing the same.

[starknight75]

I ended up deleting all the food dishes--there were 6, four of the cheapest, one of the mid-cost, and one of the most expensive--and replacing them with only 2 of the most expensive. NOW the cat eats. I am guessing that the various dishes were causing glitches, so hopefully by limiting them to only one type, there will be no further problems.

BTW, when I went through the old posts, there was one that mentioned a cheat to control pets. Does that one actually work/exist, or has it been discontinued or removed?

[ratsrbest]

The cheat to control pets is: boolprop controlpets on

When this cheat is selected you have full control of the pet. If you have the Sim Blender on the lot the pet has the option to use it to clean and fill all pet dishes.

Also, when the cheat is on, you can use the Behaviour Modifier that you can spawn by shift clicking on a human sim. A handy alternative to that is Treeag's Book of Talent which will bestow skills on your pets as well as human sims.

A small tip for hungry pets - give them a treat. It only fills a little hole but will help when they're really hungry. Also, watch out for them at meal-times, they might be near the table begging.

i seem to remember having the same problem with pet dishes as you have experienced. Even if you control the pet they still cannot eat, so new dishes is the answer - as you discovered

[starknight75]

Thank you for the clue on the cheat. I did solve the problem this time, but I am sure the cheat will come in handy at some point in the future--I am just that unlucky that something else will probably happen with some of my pets.

Thank you again!

[starknight75]

Sadly, the cat is starving itself again. I don't know why, but even with the "controlpets on" cheat she cannot select the food dish to eat. She can select anything else--the scratching post, the litter box, the pet bed, etc.--but just not the food dish. The other cats can select the food dish, so I am forced to consider that she may be glitched.

Is there any way to correct this problem? I am leery about deleting Sims and all, but I also do not want to giver her a bad memory of being put up for adoption and all. Any suggestions?

[ratsrbest]

Really sorry to hear that - I have a few 'human' sims who can't eat. They sit at the table then jump up again, unable to eat a plateful of food. They can get a snack from the fridge to eat, but no meals.

I've trawled the internet trying to find a solution, but can't find anything. I wonder if your cat has the same glitch?

I cheat shamelessly and fill up their hunger meter myself - I only let them eat snacks so they get some joy from eating

I've tried deleting and resetting them, but it doesn't help. And if they visit another sim's house they can't eat there either.

[starknight75]

One other option that appeared in the forums was to put the pet up for adoption, then adopt it back. I guess I should try that next.

Thank you for your help...I'll report what happens.

[starknight75]

Putting the cat up for adoption, then re-adopting her seems to have fixed the problem. At least, when I use the "controlpets" cheat, she can now select the food dish to eat, where before she could not.

I just hope that nothing else happens.

[DianeHanna]

Thanks for letting us know. I will do that with my stubborn dog.

[ratsrbest]

I'm glad the adoption strategy worked. It's made me think though.

Perhaps I'll age down my adult non-eating sims and get them adopted