How to Get a Cat in Stardew Valley
Home → Stardew Valley → How to Get a Cat in Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley
How to Get a Cat in Stardew Valley
Tips
The cat is low-maintenance but genuinely rewarding — maxing friendship takes only a few seconds per day (one pet, one water bowl fill) and contributes meaningfully to the perfection score. Make it part of your morning routine alongside checking crops and you’ll have a maxed-out cat by mid Year 1 without thinking about it.
⚡ Quick Answer
How to Get Your Cat
You choose a cat (or dog) during character creation — pick the cat icon under the pet option before starting your farm. You cannot get a cat mid-game if you chose a dog, or vice versa. Your pet arrives automatically once you reach 50 friendship hearts with Marnie and have upgraded your farmhouse at least once.
1
At character creation, scroll through the pet options and select the cat. There are multiple cat appearances to choose from — the colour and look are purely cosmetic. Confirm your choice before starting the game.
2
Play through the early game normally. After a few in-game days, Marnie will visit your farm in the morning and ask if you’d like a pet. Say yes — she’ll bring your cat the following morning.
3
Once your cat arrives, pet it every day by pressing the action button when standing next to it. Each daily pet adds one friendship point — you need 1,000 points (the equivalent of a full heart bar) to max it out.
4
Fill the water bowl outside your farmhouse each morning using your watering can. This also contributes to pet friendship and counts towards the Full Shipment and perfection tracker goals.
→
At maximum friendship (1,000 points) your cat earns you a bonus in the Grandpa evaluation — it counts as one of the 21 candles needed for the four-candle rating and the Stardrop reward.
→
Your cat roams the farm freely and cannot die or be harmed. It also occasionally sits inside your farmhouse — check inside if you can’t find it outside.
→
You can rename your cat at any time by interacting with it and choosing the rename option — useful if you didn’t pick a name you’re happy with at the start.
→
If you want a different pet type on an existing save, the only option in the base game is to start a new file. Some mods allow adding or changing pets mid-game on PC.