Sims 4 Cats & Dogs add-on not working NO MATTER WHAT I TRY

i'm getting very annoyed with this. ive tried everything under the sun. i recently bought the add-on and it says it's owned and installed, but when i try to adopt a pet or download one from gallery, or visit the new area that comes with the pack it says i dont even have the pack installed. i even made a new account to see if it would fix the problem but it didnt. and in terms of the "befriend a stray" option, theres not even strays to befriend either, like i never installed the pack at all. please, someone tell me if this issue is fixable, or if i just wasted my money.