Life stages (pet)

Like Sims, pets age in stages.

A pet starts as a kitten or puppy and ages to an adult. In The Sims 2: Pets, an adult pet will eventually age to an elder, and will eventually die. However, in The Sims: Unleashed and The Sims 2 Pets for console, adult pets live indefinitely. In The Sims 3: Pets, a pet's lifespan can be adjusted in the same way a normal Sim could after Patch 22.

In The Sims: Unleashed, kittens and puppies are objects, and appear as maternity tents topped by a cat face or dog face. The mother will watch them, but it is not possible to interact with them.

In The Sims 2: Pets, kittens and puppies are independent family members with their own needs, though they do not have the Scratch or Chew motives. They are mobile, but cannot climb stairs, and must be carried up and down them. They cannot be taken to community lots. They cannot have jobs or learn commands, but they can learn behaviors. While they cannot get on beds or furniture, they can be praised for not getting on them, and therefore trained to stay off them. This stage lasts three days.

The adult stage lasts 25 days for cats and small dogs, and 22 days for large dogs. Dogs and cats are the only playable pets, but players can buy a fish tank, bird cage, or womrat for Sims to care for.

Elder pets can retire from their career. However, they cannot get jobs.

Death
Pets will eventually die of old age, that being the only way they can die, as a police officer will take the pet away before starvation.

When a pet dies, the Grim Reaper will come to take the animal away. Other dogs on the lot will surround the Grim Reaper in a circle and howl. Cats arch their backs and hiss.

Pet deaths have their own unique cinematics. A dog's death will result in the Grim Reaper throwing a stick and the dog fetching, while a cat is thrown a ball of yarn.

Pets have their very own gravestones, and a special memory is also added when a pet dies.