[OPEN] [CD] Pet cats can't use the litter boxes

[Sashacarol]

I was able to get rid of the problem by purchasing a new house in a new world and moving. Kitty is happy again.

[ShannonSimsFan]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.76.81.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All DLC except Batuu is installed. I have all the kits (Bust the Dust, 80's clothes, and Country Kitchen).
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Play a household that has a cat and litter box. Wait until the cat uses the litter box and the litter box is dirty.
What happens when the bug occurs? Once the litter box becomes dirty, even after the sims clean it, the cat still thinks it is dirty. The cat has a "What is Wrong" interaction and if the sim asks what is wrong, the notification says the litter box needs to be cleaned, even though it has just been cleaned already. This has happened in three different households and after buying the most basic litter box, and two of the covered ones. It makes it pretty impossible to play with Cats (without buying a new litter box every time it needs to be cleaned).
What do you expect to see? I expect the cat to use the litter box after it is cleaned and not get a "What is Wrong?" option about the litter box on the cat's social wheel.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Yes
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure 

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I suspect this may have started after Bust the Dust, but I am not sure. I disabled Bust the Dust gameplay but the litter box still caused the cat to give a What's Wrong notification even when cleaned repeatedly.

[crinrict]

@ShannonSimsFan Does this happen without cc/mods as well ?

[thecharsims]

@ShannonSimsFan
It's definitely an annoying issue. One that I have encountered myself. However, I believe there is a work around. If the litter box is upstairs or downstairs away from the cat, you can either go to the room that the litter box is in (once you've cleaned it) or place it in a room near the cat and call the cat over. For some reason, the game doesn't allow to cat to recognize that the litter has been cleaned. Calling the cat over to the litter box should cause the cat to relieve itself and get rid of the uncomfortable mood it is in. I hope that helps.

[thecharsims]

@crinrict
Calling the cat over to the litter box should help once it's been cleaned.

[Mandarinustus]

Hello,

I have the same problem and I am playing on xbox console.

This bug has been forever. Seems that the cat litter box must be placed in the first floor to be recognised but from time to time the cats says that it is dirty even if not and deleting the item and placing a new one again doesn't work. 

[crinrict]

There's currently two open threads

- https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/OPEN-CD-Pet-cats-can-t-use-the-litter-boxes/td-p/6428301 (this is a bit of a collection of issues)
- https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/TO-ADD-CD-Cats-are-unaware-of-Pet-Bowls-or-Litter-Boxes-on-the...

For me, it's been working fine cleaning the litter boxes and then reusing them.

So want to be sure it's happening without mods for @ShannonSimsFan as @thecharsims @Mandarinustus sounds more like the second issue to me (maybe OP is also the second one, can't really tell from the report)

[thecharsims]

@crinrict About the first thread, I'm still wondering if it's similar to the 2nd. It all sounds like the same issue but maybe the player is assuming the issue is happening bcus the pet was off the lot? My sims house is, ranch style with a basement and the litter box is in the bathroom on the basement level. Similar to the 2nd thread. When I had this problem, the cat always stayed on the first floor of the house. She's a house cat, though I adopted her from off of the street. At one point, she was able to use the litter box fine and then one day, she just wouldn't travel to the basement unless called by my sim or to follow him, which is rare. Her food dish is on the first level and haven't had issues with that so far. I assume that it's an issue with the tuning and routing of the pets bcus they don't really recognize the litter box being on another floor. Once my sim called her into the bathroom where the litter box was, she used it for what seemed like a whole sim hour. I cleaned it again and her uncomfortable buff went away.

[thecharsims]

@Mandarinustus Oh yea, I've had that issue, too where it was said that the litter was dirty when it wasn't and replacing it still gave the same result. The issue might still be related. Did you try calling your cat over to the litter box? It worked for me when my sim's cat refused to go downstairs to use it.

[bae281995]

This is an annoying bug sometimes. My suggestion: don't place the cat litter using bb.moveobjects or "alt" key. Cats always use the litters when I place them without cheats or "alt", at least in my game.