"The Sims" website

"The Sims 4" expansion comes with cats and dogs.

The latest expansion to life simulation video game "The Sims 4" allows players to breed their own cats and dogs with the Create-a-Pet tool.

In this downloadable content (DLC), players can introduce these domestic animals into their homes and raise them. Like normal pets, these dogs and cats will grow old and eventually die, but they will not be totally lost. The new tool also allows players to breed the animals, so that their legacy can remain with their doting owners.

However, there is a specific process to it. The pets should adore their owners enough to agree when they are encouraged to mate.

For that to happen, players must do what real-life owners do to earn the love of their pets. That includes bathing them, giving them lots of hugs, feeding them, playing with them, and taking them on walks around Brindleton Bay, among others. Humans can also train them to do certain tricks. Once the owner-pet relationship reaches the friend level, the pets can start mating.

The player can choose any animal for their pet to mate with, as long as it on the same lot they are located on.

Then they can use the speech option to encourage them to mate then allow them do their business. It takes 24 hours to find out if the mating was successful.

Apart from breeding, there is a load of other things Sims can do with their pets. The pets are fully customizable. They can be designed, spotted and painted using stencils. They can also be dressed in various costumes. Maxis Producer Grant Rodiek said in the official announcement that a dog can even be dressed like a shark while swimming.

Once in live mode, the cats and dogs will act the way they do in the real world. Dogs will chase the cats, as the felines run to high places, probably on top of the refrigerator, to keep themselves safe.

"The Sims 4" Create-a-Pet DLC went live on Nov. 10.