How Do I Breed Pets?

[Pam]

The chimes for the pets are the same as for the Sims.  Sometimes you hear them and sometimes you don't.  We don't always hear chimes when a Sim gets pregnant.  It's the same for the pets.

[DoubleWe]

That explains it of course.
By the way Pam, I read your Dynasty story. It was kind of difficult to read at first because it was more a picture story with less text then I'm used to but so far I like it very much. 
I know this does not belong here but please don't banish me.

[Pam]

That explains it of course.
By the way Pam, I read your Dynasty story. It was kind of difficult to read at first because it was more a picture story with less text then I'm used to but so far I like it very much. 
I know this does not belong here but please don't banish me.

I won't banish you.  Thanks for the compliment. 

[Rebecca88]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I couldn't figure out why my cats wouldn't breed but now I know to buy a house Thanks everyone!

[Esther1981]

Ok. Question. How do I breed cats? Answer seems to be buy a doghouse. Simple enough, but I bought a doghouse, and tried. My cats Precious(f) and Decker(m) have maxed out friendship, and doing what felt like hundreds of friendly interactions didn't bring up any romantic ones. I had Precious groom him, sniff him, and socialize with him multiple times. I also had Decker do those to Precious multiple times. Thankfully they don't get bored with many many same interactions, but I had no luck whatsoever in getting try for kittens to come up. What did I do wrong?

[Joria]

Ok. Question. How do I breed cats? Answer seems to be buy a doghouse. Simple enough, but I bought a doghouse, and tried. My cats Precious(f) and Decker(m) have maxed out friendship, and doing what felt like hundreds of friendly interactions didn't bring up any romantic ones. I had Precious groom him, sniff him, and socialize with him multiple times. I also had Decker do those to Precious multiple times. Thankfully they don't get bored with many many same interactions, but I had no luck whatsoever in getting try for kittens to come up. What did I do wrong?

Are they related?  They won't mate with brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, etc. etc.  Has to be far away in line before they will mate with them.

[Esther1981]

No they aren't. Precious is a cat I adopted from a shelter first day Pets came out, and Decker is a cat that was adopted from a neighbor when he was a kitten. He had his adult birthday the other day, and I wanted them to breed. 

[Pam]

They're both adults?  You've got the pet house?  They're best friends?  Do you have any other pets in the house.  You can only have up to 6 pets at a time.  You're sure you've got a male and a female?  I know these sound like silly questions, but we've all overlooked silly things from time to time.  

[Esther1981]

Yes they are adults. Yes, I even bought both the houses in the buy menu, I know it should only need one, but one wasn't doing it. Yes they are best friends. No, they are my only pets. Yes, Precious is a female and Decker is a male. There is no such thing as a silly question!  

[Pam]

Well, then...  I'm just stumped as to why they won't mate.

[Esther1981]

Me too. I know the painting glitch can be fixed by shutting the game off and restarting, so hopefully next time I open it they will breed.
EDIT: Pam, after you asked me those questions it made me start thinking there was an easy answer, like maybe I just thought Decker was a male. But, I opened the game, and he is a male with 23 days left til elder, Precious is a female with 9 days left til elder. They are best friends. Also, I found out if they do the same interaction over and over, they do get bored, I told her to nuzzle him 8 times and after about the 3rd one, I got a pop-up like sims get and they started getting a - sign. So I went back to groom, nuzzle and sniff. Didn't work. I took a pic so you can see the 2 doghouses in the background. Apparently they are not meant to have kittens. 

[Dellena]

As a test, try saving the household to the library.  Start a new game and place them in a house and buy the doghouse.  See if you get the romantic interaction for the cats.  That will determine if it's a glitch in your saved game.

[loveSims]

Try place a doghouse on a community lot. Perhaps that could work if the problem is on the home lot.

[Dellena]

I want to be sure - when you have one cat selected and click on the other cat, what are your interaction choices on the radial?  Like for my cats, I have Friendly, Mean, Play, Romantic and Special.

[Ricalynn]

How many Sims are in your house?  The new total is 10 - up to 8 sims and up to 6 pets but 10 total with pets and Sims.