So, you’ve found yourself in the blocky world of Minecraft and decided you want a feline companion. While cats in Minecraft aren’t quite like their real-world counterparts in terms of demanding attention, they do offer some unique benefits. More importantly, teaching them tricks or behaviors is a fun little addition to your gameplay. This guide will walk you through the process, making you the ultimate cat whisperer of your Minecraft world.
Understanding Minecraft Cats
Before we dive into the training, let’s understand what cats are in Minecraft. These adorable creatures spawn in villages, specifically in the areas around witch huts in swamp biomes and in some desert villages. They are passive mobs, meaning they won’t attack you. Their primary purpose in the game, beyond being cute, is to help players by scaring away creepers and phantoms when you sleep in a bed. Pretty neat, right?
Finding and Taming Your First Cat
The first step to training is, of course, getting a cat! You’ll need to find one and then tame it.
Locating Cats
- Villages: Explore villages. Cats often wander around the villagers’ houses.
- Swamp Biomes: Head to swamp biomes, particularly near witch huts. You’ll often find several cats lounging around these areas.
The Taming Process
Taming a cat is simple and requires a specific item: raw fish.
- Gather Raw Fish: You can catch fish using a fishing rod in any body of water. You’ll need a fishing rod crafted from sticks and string. Alternatively, you can kill fish in rivers or oceans, though this is less reliable.
- Approach the Cat: Gently approach a wild ocelot (which are essentially wild cats in Minecraft before they are tamed). Be careful not to startle them, as they might run away.
- Offer the Fish: Hold the raw fish in your hand and right-click on the ocelot.
- Repeat: You might need to offer several pieces of raw fish. Hearts will appear above the ocelot’s head when it has been successfully tamed, and it will transform into a domestic cat.
Once tamed, the cat will sit next to you and follow you around. You can command it to sit or stand by right-clicking on it.
Training Your Cat: Teaching Tricks
Now that you have a loyal feline friend, you might be wondering if you can teach it to do tricks. In Minecraft, “training” your cat primarily refers to teaching it specific behaviors or commands, rather than complex tricks like in some other games. The main command you can teach is to sit and stand.
Teaching Your Cat to Sit
This is the most fundamental command.
- Right-Click: With your cat nearby, simply right-click on it while holding nothing in your hand.
- Sit Animation: Your cat will perform a sitting animation and remain in that spot.
- Following Again: To make your cat follow you again, simply right-click on it once more.
This is crucial for keeping your cat safe when you’re moving through dangerous areas or when you don’t want it to accidentally trigger something or get in the way.
Teaching Your Cat to Stand (Stand Up)
This is essentially the reverse of teaching it to sit.
- Right-Click: If your cat is sitting, right-click on it again.
- Stand Animation: Your cat will stand up and resume following you.
While it might not seem like complex training, mastering these commands ensures your cat stays with you and is safe.
Advanced Cat Behaviors and Interactions
Beyond sitting and standing, Minecraft cats have a few other behaviors that might be considered “learned” or at least influenced by your actions:
Following You
Tamed cats will automatically follow their owner. They have a certain follow distance, and if you move too far away, they will teleport to catch up. This is how you keep your companion with you as you explore.
Sleeping in Beds
A fun fact about tamed cats is that they love to sleep in beds. If you have a bed nearby and your cat is sitting on it, there’s a chance it will curl up and take a nap. This is purely cosmetic but adds to the immersion.
Scaring Away Hostile Mobs
As mentioned earlier, one of the most practical aspects of having a cat is their ability to deter creepers and phantoms. If a creeper gets too close to you while you’re near your cat, the cat might hiss and cause the creeper to flee. Similarly, sleeping in a bed with a cat nearby prevents phantoms from spawning.
Why Train Your Cat?
While the “training” in Minecraft is limited to sit/stand commands, having a tamed cat offers several advantages:
- Pest Control: They actively help against creepers and phantoms.
- Companionship: They provide a sense of companionship in the vast Minecraft world.
- Aesthetics: They add life and character to your base or your journeys.
- Achievement Hunting: Some in-game advancements might involve taming cats.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
- Cat Won’t Tame: Ensure you are using raw fish. Cooked fish or other meats won’t work. Also, make sure you are right-clicking on the ocelot.
- Cat Won’t Follow: If your cat is sitting, it won’t follow. Right-click on it to make it stand up. If it’s still not following, try moving a short distance away; it might teleport to you.
- Cat Disappears: Cats will teleport to you if you get too far ahead. If you suspect it’s truly lost, try returning to your base or sleeping in a bed, as it often reappears then.
Conclusion
Training a cat in Minecraft is a simple yet rewarding process. From finding and taming your first feline friend to teaching it to sit and stand, these steps ensure you have a loyal companion on your adventures. While they may not fetch your slippers, their presence in your Minecraft world brings a unique charm and practical benefits, making your survival experience all the more enjoyable. So go forth, gather some fish, and embrace the world of Minecraft cat ownership!
