So you build yourself a beautiful sea front home in picturesque Brindleton Bay, your Sim steps out onto their balcony looks out at the view and thinks yikes, what on earth is wrong with that cat? Or that cat? Or that dog? Sick and whimpering animals wandering around in need of a forever home. Was the person that designed this once attacked by a furry friend?I wish that there was an on/off option for strays in the game. It spoils Brindleton Bay for me. I know they're just pixels but it's like the fluffy version of Saving Private Ryan on that beach!I adopt as many as I can and build rescue kennels but it's pretty grim. They even turn up in the jungle if you have Jungle Adventure. They're more difficult to adopt there too as they often don't stop when you try to speak to them or don't stop for long. There's always one that my Sim gets so close to adopting before it wanders off crying it's little eyes out. I'm like "come back, I'll build you a mansion, come back!"So please, for the love of all that is furry, give us an off switch! (I repeat, yes I do know they are just pixels but I was like this watching The Fox and the Hound as well!)There's probably mods for this but on console we're stuck with these things.

@jpkarlsen Hey there, I'm aware of that. My issue is actually living in Brindleton Bay around the beach, the docks, the area around the vet's office and trips to the jungle are all spoiled by suffering strays. I've had the pack nearly 2 years and actually avoid living in Brindleton Bay because of strays. It's a real shame because I really love the town. I don't use any of the lot traits linked to Cats and Dogs. The beach area is so lovely but it's spoiled in my personal opinion. If I build homes there, I make them big enough to fill with adopted strays but there are bugs around pet care at the moment which make that frustrating.It seems like it could be a simple thing to add to game options.

The culprit that strays get sicks are the bushes in Brindleton Bay. If they explore these bushes they can get bite, and if they get bite, they have a tendence to get sick from. The game cleans dirty pets if they leave the area since a while, I saw it often in my vanilla game that a dirty dog was magical clean after a while.And... its unproductive to adopt strays, the game will just create more strays. If you let the strays, be and just befriend you can without problem cure pets with wellness-treats. Not ever Cat and Dog need a home, some Cats and Dogs prefer the streets, because you have animals that have different personalities.And I agree with jpkarlsen, there don’t many strays. The game stops generate strays if you have enough. I have since a while always the same strays and don’t get any new strays. I have a couple Vets living in Brindleton Bay. They take care of sicks strays if I play them and are almost befriended with ever stray in game. (Vanilla)I know you asked for a toggle, but I don’t really think we get these. Hell, we don’t get any toggles for supernatural, which are a highly request is from realistic player. (And would fix the problem that occults get nerfed because of this gameplay style)And yes, it gives mods to remove strays complete and replace it with Cats/Dogs from households. Maybe eventually console player would get simple mods? I think this would be nice addition for them to tweak her playstyle even more or get bug fixing without the need to wait for the team (it is not so as would the team make any big bug fixing in the last 1 year, critical bugs, sure but not bugs which are simple annoying as the rocket or chefs which stand outsite – sorry)

I have a lot of strays in my game at the beach at any one time as many as 8, which I think is a lot. In the jungle and vet/food stall area 4 or 5. At the docks around 6. Too many to adopt.With the houses around the beach I created a shelter on the large lot up on the right hand side as strays were walking past late at night whining and trudging along sadly, perhaps 2 or 3 each night. So I built a ranch with stables and a vet's office. My Sim adopted 10 dogs off the beach and street outside her house in about 1 real time week, I sent 3 to live with other households. More dogs wander in to sleep because I later added an area for them. The same happens at the houses up above the vet area and the houses around the docks where pets wander sadly past at night.As someone who had 3 pet bereavements a couple of years ago all in the space of a year I'd hesitated to get the pack but then decided to get it for the new world as it's the type of town I really love but I found myself desperately trying to rescue every stray and then just having to avoid the town. Personally I'm very distressed by suffering animals and have rescued strays and abused pets IRL and got them help. My own little tabby now was very sick when I got him from a farm and sometimes you want a video game to be an escape from that horrible experience. It can trigger a bad memory of such things.It's all about personal experiences and tastes I suppose. I just think this is a feature that is unpleasant and more than a bit upsetting. They spawn with such low needs. The wellness treats don't always work either, which I reported a couple of months ago.2 friends who got the game at Christmas and have rescue cats won't buy the pack because of the strays due to personal experiences.

@simsplayer818 If your lot does not have the dog/cat lover trait there wont be many strays except on the island.

@simsplayer818 If you're not on console and not averse to mods, LittleMsSam has a mod that reduces or eliminates sick and starving strays. I think Bienchen has one as well. (I'm not sure which one I have in my game, but I totally agree with you!)Edit: I just reread and you're on console. Sorry! I do totally agree with you.Also, my condolences on the pet bereavements. Last year was a hard year for me, too; I lost three beloved cats in a short period of time. This is probably why I feed my Sim pets age-down treats whenever they hit the elder stage!I hope things get better for your furry friends!

Sims 4 needs to make strays optional

12 Replies

gooochyeee
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@simsplayer818 I agree. It always makes me upset seeing stray sick dogs in both the jungle and brindilton bay. They also populare in moonwood mill but that i dont mind as thats a place i expect and think irl you would see them runnibg wild in an abandoned town taken over by werewolves
simsplayer818
Hero
3 years ago
One of the most frustrating things for me is that Adopt only pops up in certain locations. If they could change it for us that would be a slight improvement. That way, if you meet a stray and don't get to adopt it before it trudges sadly away then you can travel somewhere with it and adopt it later because it is added to your contacts list. I've even tried travelling back to the beach with them but Adopt doesn't pop up if you do that, I have to hope to bump into them again. My Sims end up taking trips with a stray, making a fuss of it and then having to leave it.
Since the social menu changed earlier in the year it's been even more problematic and I often get "feel the love" before or instead of Adopt. I've reported that already as it doesn't seem quite right.
I've found since adding Cat's and Dogs years ago, I can only adopt at the beach, the area around the vet's office, the docks/saloon area and the jungle. I have to actually travel there too...it doesn't work if they live next to the saloon but it works if they live near the beach/vets. It works sporadically on a Dog Hangout lot, as I found with my kennels. My new Sim lives on the yacht club lot and can't adopt strays near her home. (When I last created her she lived near the vets and it worked fine). She now has to travel into the saloon to adopt nearby or she maxes friendship with a sick stray but can't adopt... that is utterly heartbreaking for me. It's just too sad. She got to 2am and was complaining she was tired and hungry but Adopt wouldn't pop up so I kept trying till poor Brandy wandered off. So I reset my game and console and deleted my locally saved data, did a data synch and tried again but same thing.
If the Adopt function could be improved so it always works under any circumstances and at any location then that would be so much appreciated. I'll test again once I've added the Cat Hangout trait to my cat rescue Calico Cottage today.
I'm hoping that when I add the horses on release day (super excited) that the horses we can rescue are not sick too but we'll soon find out. If not I don't think it will bother me seeing stray horses around in the wild as I've seen wild horses IRL (most amazing experience ever!). It will only bother me if they have those spinning stars, red nose, green haze, or the blue drool!

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Sims 4 needs to make strays optional

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