Kitty Condo

[Elvie]

Cats are supposed to be able to sleep in/on the Kitty Condo object that doubles as a scratching post, right?

I've never seen a cat sleep in one of these on its own.  They'll scratch/survey/rest on it all day, but they refuse to sleep.

I don't think it's a placement issue, because when I use the controlpets cheat I can make them sleep in it.  Sometimes they'll climb up to the top to sleep, and sometimes they'll go inside. 

I haven't gotten around to installing the 2nd Pets patch.  The Kitty Condo was never listed as an issue.

The only non-Awesome hacks I have are a sellable juice tray hack from MTS2 and Squinge's communal shower upgrade.

 

[purplehaze]

Mine have never slept in/on it either. They prefer the floor or furniture. I don't think it advertises enough energy replenishment. Not sure though.

[jsalemi]

Mine have never slept in/on it either. They prefer the floor or furniture. I don't think it advertises enough energy replenishment. Not sure though.

Yea, now that I think about it, mine have never autonomously slept on it either -- only when I directed them to.  Even if it's the only 'pet bed' in the house, they prefer the floor or furniture, it seems.

[ZiggyDoodle]

I attribute it to just another incident of Maxis/EA's false advertising.   No cat in my game has ever slept in it or on it under any circumstances.

Too bad it doesn't work properly since the pet beds were designed for big dogs on steroids and take up way too much space.

[cheriem]

Get Paladin's one tile pet beds.  They work just like the original but are only one tile.

[starrling]

I have one house that has three cats.  One of the cats autonomously sleeps inside the "cubby" part of the condo and I assumed it's because there were only two other cat beds.  But now I wonder why, if no one else is having such luck.  Hmm.

[Zazazu]

Out of over 20 cats I've had in-game, I've had two use the condo to sleep, and then only occasionally. With one, it was a two-cat home with no other beds. Generally both cats would sleep on the floor instead. In one nine-cat household with only three beds, none ever slept in the two cat condos.

Yeah. That would suggest that something's borked.

[Lady Moiraine]

Before Seasons came out and screwed up the lots from the bin from Pets, I used to play Pettina's Pet Retreat all the time, the cats will sleep in the condo there.  Kim, one of the cats that come with Pets used to sleep in it all the time on her own.

[TaWanda]

I installed pets and seasons one right after another and played patch free, cc and hack free for about three weeks, just because. I bought the kitty condos as my only pet beds and none of the eight or ten cats in my game ever used them, always preferring to sleep on the floor.

[ZiggyDoodle]

Get Paladin's one tile pet beds.  They work just like the original but are only one tile.

Looked at those today, Cheriem.  Very cute and lots of choices.  Now just deciding whether I want to add to my DL folder, which I am intent on keeping under one gig.  Sigh.

[jsalemi]

Ah, g'on, you know you want to download them.  Come to the dark side -- we have cookies!

[Flamingo]

That or just find some useless crap to delete.

[missangelica]

Someone needs to fix it so the cats actually use it!!  Or at least point me in the right direction to up the advertising on it.  I know my RL cats will sleep *anywhere* but my simmies' kittehs should use the condo!

[ZiggyDoodle]

Cookies?  Did I hear cookies?  Maybe chocolate chippies???  Yum, yum (as my Furbies used to say)

Something to munch on while I cull my DLs to make room for a few beds.   

[dragoness]

Maybe it's just a case of too much realism?

My cat has the entire sofa to herself, and she chooses to sleep on the floor, on top of a pile that includes an empty plastic grocery bag, my notebook, about six pairs of my husband's dirty socks (ech!) and a can of compressed air.

Who really knows why cats sleep where they do? 

[myskaal]

Exactly. Of my 2 cats, one prefers to sleep on my pillows on the bed while I'm not using them. When I am, he finds the rug in front of the computer perfect - even though there's a house full of fluffy comfortable chairs/sofas and a gigantic fluffy dog-pillow (which the dogs don't use either mind you).
The other prefers either the top of my dresser or the tiny crack of space under the stereo/entertainment cabinet.

[SaraMK]

My cat's favorite napping place is on top of the keyboard. Unfortunately he must take his naps in 10 second bursts.

He also claimed one of my pillows, and at night he usually sleeps wrapped around my head. Since the weather is turning hot, this is not very comfortable. The train-like purring does not help, either. I've tried to kick him out of the room, but then he sits by the door and yowls like someone is butchering him, so my sleep is not improved, and the other people in the house object as well. I bought him a nice little cat bed, and he promptly peed all over it. However, the dog is strangely attached to it now, probably because the smell didn't quite wash off, so it wasn't a total waste.

I love cats.

[witch]

I've just had all the bedroom floors and the corridor stripped back to wood and polished. My ancient grey cat decided she would lay her achy old bones on the polished wood in the corridor at night. Lately it's become even worse, she sleeps on the lino in front of the shower. I have a carpeted lounge with good cat hidey spots, also a proper couch and armchairs etc. She has full access to this room at night because her cat door opens off it, yet chooses to sleep on cold wood in a corridor. So weird.

Now, it's getting colder at night and I don't allow her in my room, because of fur and scratching of rugs etc, so I decided to find her a bed. Maybe she just wants to sleep up the end of the house where I am, gawd only knows why.

So I went to the Warehouse, our equivalent of Wal-Mart from what I read, and had a poke around. I had no intention of buying a $60 or $70 cat bed in a posh shop, that just seems ludicrous to me. So I found a wireframe, oblong, woven basket about 12" tall and large enough for a medium cat to stretch out. (Nice shaded pink to purple stripes woven in too). Half price at $6.97 he he. Got home, put a small old wool blanket to line it, old pillow in the bottom, towel on top, voila, a cat bed. I was tickled pink with myself.

The cat however, was deeply suspicious. Now she and I are not what you might call close. She's a bitch and so am I, we are the last survivors of a much larger pack, with both her son and mine gone (her's is dead, mine isn't), no more dogs and the sad loss of my ferret
it's just me and her, two grumpy old ladies. We don't cuddle, we just talk.

So anyway, I pick her up and stroking her gently, put her in this new bed. She tenses. WTF? Is this anything to do with vets? A piercing look of acute suspicion met my eyes. I petted and gentled her into a lying position, all the time feeling her body ready to leap, as soon as I let go, sure enough she was out of there. I tried again after she'd had her wash after tea, no dice.

Then I got cunning. I hid little bits of pate in the corners of the bed and put it in front of the shower. Sure enough, when I got up this morning, she was sleeping in her new bed.

[sara_dippity]

Maybe it's just a case of too much realism?

My cat has the entire sofa to herself, and she chooses to sleep on the floor, on top of a pile that includes an empty plastic grocery bag, my notebook, about six pairs of my husband's dirty socks (ech!) and a can of compressed air.

Who really knows why cats sleep where they do? 

I think so too. I'm actually shocked that the cats play with the cat toys or sleep in the pet beds at all. And I've had my sim cats sleep on the kitty condo, just not often.

Exactly. Of my 2 cats, one prefers to sleep on my pillows on the bed while I'm not using them. When I am, he finds the rug in front of the computer perfect - even though there's a house full of fluffy comfortable chairs/sofas and a gigantic fluffy dog-pillow (which the dogs don't use either mind you).
The other prefers either the top of my dresser or the tiny crack of space under the stereo/entertainment cabinet.

Wow, your cat lets you have the pillow to yourself? No wrapping around your head action?

Hey, you know what hack we need for realism? Something that makes the cats seek the most expensive object that is not a pet bed, and that is what they sleep on. Especially rugs. I'll never forget Luv Bug and my mom's antique rug hunting spurt. Every new rug was in the house about 3 min before a fat cat was right in the middle, fast asleep.

[auriaux]

I used to make quilts and my cats always wanted to sleep ON the sewing machine, right on the folded project currently being worked on.  We also have one cat that always likes whatever seems like a 'new' place.  I left an empty laundry basket sitting out the other day (rare occurrence for us) and she hopped right in and slept there all afternoon. Cold empty plastic. Yuck.

But no, my Sims cats never ever sleep anywhere near the condo.  I have one set that actually sleep outdoors in the grass mostly, outside the pet house I got for them to breed in.  They were my first cats in the game, and I thought they didn't sleep in the condo because it's in the room with the TV, but none of the other cats I've had in game since will either.

Laura

[Hook]

I have to agree with the "cats like to sleep in new stuff" idea.  I've found that they love cardboard boxes, even if it's a size 11 shoebox and the cat is about size 18. 

Recently my wife went to pick up a paper gift bag (like the old paper grocery bags, but with handles) and discovered it was heavy:  there was a cat in it.

I've never had a kitty condo in real life, but we had something similar once.  It was a tall pipe with a flat top and holes in the side, covered with carpet.  Cats loved sleeping on top of it.  Sometimes they'd even get inside to play.

As for real life cat toys, I've had cats play with them, but not a lot.  One favorite was a "ball race"... a hollow donut with a ball inside and holes on the outside.  Cats like to play with non-cat-toys a lot tho.  Drop the wire twist tie from a loaf of bread on the floor some time and see what happens.

Oh yes, almost forgot.  I had one cat who loved to dig through my son's toy box when he was bored.  I don't recall him ever playing with the toys he found there though.   He loved plastic grocery bags as well.  He'd stick his head through one of the handle loops and wear the bag around like a cape.  Supercat.  He did this a lot.  He got upset if you tried to take it off.

As for the kitty condo, I was surprised when my Sim cat wouldn't sleep in it.  In the one house where they do, is there anything different about the placement of the condo?  I think the only configuration I haven't tried yet is having one out in the middle of the floor, not against a wall.

Hook

[missangelica]

My three year old cat likes to sleep practically anywhere.. piles of clothes, in clothes baskets, dining room table, all the beds, any floor, any chair/couch.. right now he is behind me sleeping on the window air conditioner unit outside.  Oh, he loves sleeping in boxes too!

My eleven year old cat only sleeps outside (he has a place in the backyard he always sits in), the air conditioner unit, the floor, and chairs.  He likes to claim chairs as soon as we get up!

[cabelle]

Our cats like to sleep in shoe boxes too.   We've given up on buying real cat toys for them. They're not interested. They'd much rather play with my daughters' "My Little Ponies" (they pick them up by the tail, throw them around, groom them and run through the house with the tail in their mouths), a ball of crumpled up tin foil or an ice cube. They love twist ties & rubber bands but we take them away because our oldest cat tries to eat them. Those plastic spider rings the kids get around Halloween? My cats LOVE those. They'll play with them almost endlessly.

It's been getting warmer around here so lately our cats have taken to sleeping in the bathroom sinks again. Rather humorous to see.

Once in a great while my sim cats will sleep in the condo. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's against a wall or not. I've seen them sleep in the little cubby hole and even once on the platforms. They seem to prefer the beds though. Perhaps they advertise higher energy & comfort levels?

[J. M. Pescado]

Hey, you know what hack we need for realism? Something that makes the cats seek the most expensive object that is not a pet bed, and that is what they sleep on. Especially rugs. I'll never forget Luv Bug and my mom's antique rug hunting spurt. Every new rug was in the house about 3 min before a fat cat was right in the middle, fast asleep.

Sadly, they didn't implement the ability for cats to procedurally get on things. Snow can get on things, but cats can't. It's a major shortcoming of Maxis cats.

[notveryawesome]

IRL, my cats love their kitty condo. In fact, they're up there now, snuggled together on the top tier (awwwwww). In my game, however, the cats only sleep in the condo if I direct them to. I really wish the sim-cats could snuggle together like real-life kitties do. Even when it's stifling here (which is any time other than what passes for winter in the desert), my cats will curl up together in a chair or on top of their kitty condo. Oh well. Maybe in TS3.