How to tame a cat in Minecraft (and where to find them)

There’s a lot of exploring and building to do in Minecraft, as the sandbox game has seen rapid growth over the years. But along with scavenging for resources and crafting new gear, Minecraft lets you tame a variety of animals. And one of the most popular animals you can tame is an adorable cat.

Cats have been tamable in Minecraft for years, and they make great companions. Once tamed, they’ll pal around with you during your adventures and can even keep you company while at home. Taming a cat in Minecraft is a rather simple process, but it does require some legwork and very specific items.

Looking to make a new friend? Here’s how to tame a cat in Minecraft, along with details about cat behavior and where you’ll find cats.

Where to find cats

There aren’t any animal adoption centers in Minecraft — you’re going to have to find a stray cat to bring home out in the wild. Luckily, cats are relatively easy to find. Stray cats spawn in villages with at least one villager and four beds. For each four beds in a village, a cat will spawn (up to 10), so you’ll likely have a variety of colors to choose from in an average village.

Black cats can also be found around witch huts in swamps.

In the Bedrock Edition of the game (the most common, modern version of the game on Xbox, Windows, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch), black cats are more likely to spawn when there is a full moon.

How to tame a cat

Step 1: To tame a cat, first collect some raw cod or raw salmon from a nearby lake or river.

Step 2: Equip the raw fish and slowly approach a stray cat. Use the raw fish on the skeptical kitty.

Step 3: Continue to feed the cat more raw fish until hearts appear above its head, signifying it is being tamed. You will likely have to feed it multiple times to get it to like you, so stock up on fish before you attempt this.

Step 4: When the cat has been fed enough, the hearts will disappear and the cat will gain a collar. You now have a pet cat!

Cat behavior

Once you’ve successfully tamed a cat, it will follow you around wherever you go. If you lose track of your cat, don’t worry — they can teleport to a player who moves 12 blocks away. Unless commanded to sit, tamed cats do not remain still for long and explore around the player. You can tell a cat to sit and make it stay in one place — if you wanted an indoor cat to stay in your home, for example.

When in a house, cats will climb on top of furniture on their own accord. You can often find them sitting on top of chests, beds, and furnaces. Like real-life cats, cats in Minecraft can sometimes get in your way and render chests, furnaces, etc., unusable until you move them. If they get into something you don’t want them messing with, you can push them out of the way, lure them away with raw fish, or remove blocks underneath them to get them to move.

When a player goes to sleep at night, there’s a chance a tamed cat will sleep near them. When they awake, there’s a chance a pet cat will have a gift for you — they can collect string, raw chicken, a rabbit’s foot, and other items.

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