How to Tame Cats in Crimson Desert

If you’re trying to tame cats in Crimson Desert, you’re in for a slower ride than dogs. They’re pickier about food, give less trust per interaction, and you need to physically pick them up before you can even pet them. The standard method takes at least two in-game days – but if you know about the Golden Carp, you can skip all of that and tame any cat instantly. Here’s how.

How to Tame Cats in Crimson Desert

The pet system in Crimson Desert runs on trust. Every stray cat starts at 0 trust, and you need to reach 100 before you can claim it. You build trust through petting and feeding, but both have daily caps that reset at midnight in-game time.

Unlike dogs, you can’t just walk up to a cat and pet it. You need to hold the carry button to pick the cat up first, then press the interact button to pet it while you’re holding it. Each pet gives +5 trust, and you can do it 5 times per day for a max of +25 trust from petting.

Feeding adds up to +30 trust per day for cats (3 feeds at +10 each). That puts your best single-day total at +55 trust. Since you need 100, you’re looking at a minimum of two in-game days with the standard method. Use the pass time feature at campfires or cooking pots to skip ahead rather than waiting around.

Once you hit 100 trust, put the cat down if you’re carrying it and hold the interact button. You’ll see the “Take In” prompt – select it and the cat becomes your permanent companion. You can find all your Crimson Desert pets in the Pets tab of your inventory, where you can summon or unsummon them at any time.

What to Feed Cats in Crimson Desert

Cats are picky eaters. They refuse standard red meat entirely – the stuff that works on dogs is useless here. Instead, cats will eat bird meat, fish, milk, and certain fruits. The problem is that all of these only give +10 trust per feed, and you’re capped at 3 feeds per in-game day for a total of +30.

You can buy cat-friendly food from a few places:

• Grocer’s Shop in Hernand (south of the inn) – sells milk and some basic food items. This is probably your first stop since Hernand is where most players start encountering stray cats.
• Fishmonger in Hernand – sells fish and squid. Squid is the favorite food for some cat breeds, but trust-wise it gives the same +10 as anything else.
• Hunting birds in the wild gets you bird meat for free, and you can also catch fish by jumping into water near visible fish and grabbing them – no fishing rod needed.

Each cat breed has a listed “favorite food” but in practice, all standard cat food gives the same +10 trust. The only food that breaks this rule is the Golden Carp.

The Golden Carp – Instant Cat Taming

The Golden Carp is a Legendary Fish that gives +100 trust to any cat in a single feed. That means you can tame cats in Crimson Desert instantly – no multi-day grind, no stocking up on milk and fish. One Golden Carp and you’re done.

How to get The Golden Carp in Crimson Desert

1. Find a lake with Golden Carp. Look for a large, golden-colored fish swimming near the shore. They’re way bigger than normal fish, so they’re hard to miss once you know what to look for. The commonly recommended lake is just under “P” in Pailune on the map – search for “Golden Carp” our our Crimson Desert Interactive Map.

2. Jump in and grab it. You don’t need a fishing rod. Walk along the shore until you spot one, jump into the water, swim up to it, and hold the interact button to catch it. This works for every fish in the game and is way faster than the fishing minigame.

3. Drop it near any cat. Open your inventory, select the Golden Carp, and discard it on the ground near your target cat. Once the cat eats it, trust shoots straight to 100 and you can immediately claim it.

If you’re looking to tame multiple cats quickly, Pororin Village is the ideal spot since it’s packed with cats. Stock up on Golden Carp beforehand and you can work through several in one visit.

How to Feed Cats in Crimson Desert

Feeding cats is clunkier than you’d expect. There’s no dedicated “feed” button – you have to do it through your inventory. Here’s the process step by step:

1. Get close to the cat. Make sure you’re standing near the cat you want to feed. If you’re carrying it, put it down first.

2. Open your inventory. Find the food item you want to use (fish, bird meat, milk, etc.).

3. Discard the food. Select the food and choose “Discard” or “Take Out” to drop it on the ground in front of you.

4. Wait for the cat to eat. After a few seconds, the cat should walk over and eat the food. You’ll see the trust meter tick up in the top left corner.

There are a few things that can go wrong, and knowing about them will save you a lot of wasted food:

• Other animals will steal the food. If you drop food in a busy area, other strays, NPCs, and even your own active pet will run over and eat it before your target cat gets to it. Always unsummon your current pet before feeding a new stray, and try to lure the cat to a quiet corner away from foot traffic first.
• Cats sometimes ignore dropped food and run away. If the cat won’t eat, pick it up and pet it again, then put it back down near the food. This usually gets the cat to eat. Some players have also had success trapping cats in small rooms or huts to keep them from wandering off.
• Cats can’t pass through doors while you’re carrying them. If you need to move through a doorway, put the cat down, walk through, then go back and pick it up on the other side.

How to Get a Cat on the Shoulder in Crimson Desert

One of the best details about cat companions is that they’ll climb up Kliff’s arms and sit on his shoulder when you stand still long enough. This is a passive idle animation – there’s no button to trigger it. Just stop moving with your cat summoned and wait a few seconds. The cat will eventually hop up and perch on your shoulder like it owns the place.

This works with every cat breed, including the Fat Cat – which is especially funny given its size. Players have also confirmed that cats will stay on your shoulder while riding mounts, so your feline companion hitches a ride even on horseback. Dogs don’t do this – they’ll bark at enemies instead, but the shoulder trick is cats only.

The shoulder animation has gone viral across Reddit and TikTok since launch, and honestly it’s one of those small details that makes having a cat companion feel way more personal than a dog. If you want the full shoulder cat experience, the Fat Cat from the Naz River is the community favorite for obvious reasons.

All Cat Breeds and Where to Find Them

There are 8 cat breeds in Crimson Desert, each with multiple color variants. All breeds function identically once tamed – same auto-looting, same following behavior – so it’s purely about which look you prefer. Knowing where each breed spawns will help you tame cats in Crimson Desert more efficiently, especially if you’re going for all 30 pets. Here’s where to find each one:

Cat: The most common breed. Found throughout Hernand and most settlements across Pywel. Multiple color variants including standard tabby patterns. Available early in the game.

Kitten: Smaller version of the standard cat. Found in various settlements. Same taming process, same food preferences.

Short-Haired Kitten: Found in Pororin Village near a corner with several pots. Distinctly smaller than other cats.

Short-Haired Cat: Also found in Pororin Village. A unique smaller white variant has been spotted sleeping near jars in Pororin.

Long-Haired Cat: Found in Tariv (the sorcerer village in Demeniss) and in Florindale within Pororin Village. Includes the Longleaf Forest Cat variant.

Slim Cat: Found in Tariv, Demeniss. Sleek build, shows up more frequently in later regions.

Loafy Cat (Fat Cat): The community favorite. Found near the Naz River fishing dock, southeast of Hernand. Requires Dried Fish to tame – found in buckets inside a nearby building. Multiple color variants including the famous black-coated yellow-eyed chunker. This is the one you want for the shoulder animation.

Desert Cat: The only cat breed exclusive to The Crimson Desert region. All other cat breeds appear everywhere except this region. Eats fish, eggs, and fruit.

Cat spawns are somewhat randomized and animals move around depending on the time of day, so if you don’t see a specific breed, try visiting at a different hour or leave the area and come back. You can check spawn locations on our Crimson Desert Interactive Map.

Pororin Village – The Cat Village

Pororin Village is the single best spot to tame cats in Crimson Desert. It’s a hidden settlement in the Pororin Forest area of Hernand, packed with cats of nearly every breed. It’s also where you’ll find Milou’s Shop, the pet tailor that sells cosmetic armor for your companions. The catch is that you can’t just walk in.

Pororin is protected by Shai children who guard the surrounding forest. If they spot you, they’ll knock you out with sleep powder and drag you away. To unlock access, you need to deliberately get knocked out three times:

1. Approach Pororin Village. Look for the colorful floating flower pots that signal you’re close. A Shai will knock you unconscious.

2. Go back and get knocked out again. Repeat this two more times for a total of three knockouts.

3. Meet Arkin. After the third time, a Shai named Arkin will call out to you from a nearby tree. This triggers “The Unreachable Village” quest.

4. Retrieve the Relic of Pororin. Arkin asks you to get a relic from a giant walking Ent that patrols the Trembling Gorge. You need to climb to the top of its head using climbing, gliding, or Axiom Force. The Ent walks in a clockwise loop, so travel anticlockwise to find it faster.

5. Return the relic to Arkin. This grants you permanent access to Pororin Village. The Shai will no longer try to put you to sleep.

Once inside, you’ll find cats everywhere. If you’ve stocked up on Golden Carp, you can tame multiple cats in a single visit. Pororin is also home to the pet tailor, a dye vendor (for yellow dye), and a Research Institute at the Petalton Workshop, so it’s worth unlocking early.

Tips, Bugs, and the Nighttime Trick

The Nighttime Trick. If you want to tame cats in Crimson Desert the standard way (no Golden Carp), visit the cat around 10 PM in-game time. Max out your petting and feeding for the day, then wait until the clock passes midnight. The daily caps reset and you can immediately pet and feed again. This lets you hit 100 trust in a single session instead of waiting across multiple in-game days.

Best time to find cats. Animals refresh and move around throughout the day. If you can’t find the breed you want, try checking between 3 PM and 4 PM in-game time when most animals tend to be out on the streets. You can also save and reload or fast travel away and back to force spawns to refresh.

Fat Cat disappearing bug. There’s a known issue where the Fat Cat near Naz River can vanish right after you register it. If this happens, jump into the nearby water. Submerging your character forces the game to reload the pet model and the cat should reappear. This has been reported with other cat breeds too, though less frequently.

Cats despawning mid-tame. If you travel too far away during the taming process, the cat can despawn from its location. Don’t panic – leave the area completely and come back after a short time. The animal should respawn and your trust progress is preserved.

Collecting all 30 pets. Registering 30 unique pets (dogs and cats combined) completes the Pets life challenge, which counts toward the Natural Collector trophy/achievement. Cats are spread across more regions than dogs, so you’ll need to visit settlements throughout Pywel at different times of day to find every breed and variant.

More Crimson Desert Resources

For the full breakdown on dogs, trust mechanics, and pet armor shops, check out our Complete Crimson Desert Pets Guide. If you need silver to stock up on cat food, our Early Money Guide has you covered. Find cat spawn locations, Pororin Village, and the Naz River dock on our Crimson Desert Interactive Map, and browse all of our walkthroughs on the Crimson Desert Guides page. Stay up to date with the latest gaming guides on MetaForge and join our Discord community to share your cat collections and discuss Crimson Desert!