[ARCHIVED] [CD] Pet Owner Whims After Pet Is Gone [ Edited ]

[MisplacedMel]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Often (50% - 99%)
What is your current game version number? 1.52.100.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All except Island Living
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Have a family with a pet. Do any of the following: 1. Have that pet die. 2. Move that pet out. 3. Move a family member out. Watch the whims of the sims that live in the house that no longer has a pet. In my houses, it happened often.
What happens when the bug occurs? Sims continue to get whims that indicate they own the pet. Examples I've seen include wanting to walk dogs, buy pet beds, litter boxes, and food bowls. The whims I'm talking about are the ones that specifically say, "From owning a ...".
What do you expect to see? I expect the sims to stop getting whims about pets they don't have anymore. I understand that some Sims want to buy these things and play with animals even if they don't own one, but those whims don't occur nearly as often without traits or aspirations related to animals.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure 

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This problem occurs in multiple households and different saves of mine, including a save I created just to test it.

Edit By Crinrict: Added Tag to Title

[DMDragonCT · Accepted solution]

@MisplacedMel @Reekyteek @Dianuckethead @Bearpal64 @shaderondark @FinalBossNyuma @eustacecs 

Dear all,

I have had this issue ever since Cats & Dogs was released and I have FINALLY found a solution!

The problem is the relbit information between the sim and the pet which remains even if the pet dies or is moved out of the household.

There are two possible ways of fixing this:

1.) Permanently delete the pet via the Household Manager. This is the sledge-hammer solution and rather inelegant, I agree.

2.) Have both the pet and the sim on the same lot. Make sure you have testingcheats enabled. Then, shift-left-click on the pet and choose "Cheat Relationship...". From there, select "Remove Relationship Bit...". A list of relbits will appear. Click to delete "Pet" (and also "Companion" if applicable). Problem solved and no more pet-related whims for that sim!

Good Luck!

[crinrict]

Added

[TheSteelRodent]

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? 1.63.136.1010
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? all DLC, but not Eco Living
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Not 100% certain, but this is what I did before the Eco patch. 1. Need a family with multiple members and a pet (in both my cases it's a cat). 2. Make sure the sim in question has a good relationship with the pet. 3. Take one of the family members and move them into another family using the world edit (leave the cat behind). 4. Play the moved out sim and watch their whims (may take a long time before they show up obviously).
What happens when the bug occurs? When they're "happy", often a whim will ask for pet stuff - litter tray, balls, wands - with the statement that it's because they own a pet.
What do you expect to see? I expect them to realize they abandoned their pet and no longer have one.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure 

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I have two sims in two different families, in two completely unrelated saves, that both moved out from a family that has a cat, but they have no pets in the new family, and they both keep wishing for pet stuff when they're just "happy". I'm almost certain this started with the Eco patch, because I don't recall ever seeing this before.

[MisplacedMel]

Didn't start with Eco Living. I've had that problem on one of my saves for a while now.

[Reekyteek]

I have had this problem for more than a year

[Dianuckethead]

I've had the same problem for at least a year and some... It happens too when a Sim moves out of the household. I believe there's a hidden trait "Is_owned_pet" that won't go away no matter the circumstances, so the Sim would always have the whim related to pets even if they're long gone or moved out. 

[Bearpal64]

@MisplacedMel Ive definitely had this problem since I feel around the time Cats and Dogs was released. It seems that once a Sim has had a pet as part of their household they will always have pet related whims whether they currently have a pet or not.

[shaderondark]

@Mallissah  I've got exactly the same issue, pets die and are not replaced or a sim moves out of the household and doesn't take the pet with them and they keep getting the whim to take the pet for a walk.   It's highly irritating when you are trying to play to the sims whims and they have these stupid ones that they definitely would not have IRL. 

[FinalBossNyuma]

@MisplacedMel I’ve also experienced this on console after having my sim adopt a stray pet, then move that pet out of their household into another sim household. The whims remained despite no longer owning a pet.

[eustacecs]

I believe it's not pet-specific.

I get 'chat with X' whims when mentioned X is nowhere close often.

I keep getting honey-related whim for some time after selling bee hive.

Overall, whims caused by 'being near X' stick (i. e. keep re-appearing) for few in-game hours after leaving X object's vicinity.