7 Days as a Pet Cat vs Dog — Which Pet to Pick

7 Days as a Pet lets you play as the animal, not the sitter. The two evergreen kits are Cat and Dog, with hamster and rotating NEW ANIMAL / Halloween forms appearing in events. This guide compares movement, chore routing, Not Marnie fights for space, and ending-specific picks so you stop guessing at the character select screen.

Cosmetics and collars are covered on Pets. Beginner controls remain on Getting Started.

Headline differences

Trait	Cat	Dog
Vertical mobility	High jump / counters	Average
Ground speed	Average	Faster sprint
Best chores	Elevated posts, attic lamps, counters	Long hallway resets, yard loops
Best endings niche	Follow The Dot / attic diary lines	Noise repositioning, door peeks, yard props
Co-op role	Scout up high	Runner / lamp courier

Neither kit changes the sneeze test, heart count, or chore list — those rules are shared (Daily Tasks, Not Marnie).

When to pick Cat

Choose cat if your week plan includes:

• Update 3 Attic routes and high lamp bulbs on Day 6.
• Counter-surfing toward fridge chicken or stove burners for comedy endings.
• Closet dots and shelf diary pages for Follow The Dot / Dear Diary.
• Escaping chases by breaking vertical line of sight instead of pure distance.

Cats forgive mistimed jumps into sunbeam furniture and dryer-adjacent ledges (still do not nap in the dryer on a Good Pet week). If you often die because a lamp is “just out of reach,” swap to cat before blaming the hunt.

When to pick Dog

Choose dog if you need:

• Fast ground coverage for all six chores before night.
• Quick living-room phone grabs in crowded lobbies.
• Yard and garage loops after Update 4 opens outdoor props.
• Chase breaks that rely on sprint distance down hallways.
• Ferrying teammates toward a Pet Pile spot before the sleep window closes.

Dogs shine on Okay Pet salvage weeks where minutes matter more than shelves.

Hamster and event animals

Hamster and Halloween/NEW ANIMAL forms (late October–early November 2026 waves) usually trade standardization for novelty hitboxes, voices, or limited outfits. Rules of thumb:

• Treat event pets as cosmetic-first unless a patch note explicitly buffs their move set.
• Re-learn jump height before Day 6 — event kits sometimes feel shorter.
• Meow/hiss equivalents still need practice; sound packs change but the deterrent logic does not.
• Collect screenshots and outfits on Pets, then return to cat/dog for serious Good Pet attempts.

Check the Updates Hub whenever a NEW ANIMAL banner appears so you know if garage/yard interactions changed.

Chore routing by body

Cat route example: water → inspect food on counter line → elevated scratch if posted high → sunbeam → litter → phone → sneeze test from a perch.
Dog route example: phone early → litter → scratch → sunbeam → food/water circuit → yard glance → sneeze test → sleep sprint.

Both must still ignore 3AM treat bags on survival weeks (Survive the Week).

Ending-specific recommendations

Ending	Suggested kit	Why
Good Pet / Okay Pet	Either; dog if slow at chores	Sprint recovers time
Dear Diary	Cat	Pages often need jumps
Follow The Dot	Cat	Closet / furniture lines
Fluff Cycle / Bath Time	Cat	Prop mounts
Great Escape	Dog	Door peek speed
Noise Complaint	Either	Voice spam, not move kit
Pet Pile	Dog helpful	Rally speed
Day 6 lamp focus	Cat upstairs, dog halls	Split roles in co-op
Tag You’re It avoidance	Dog for distance, cat for vertical juke	Personal chase style

Full triggers: All Endings. Priority: Endings Tier List.

Co-op composition tips

A balanced lobby runs 1–2 cats for attic/lamps and 2+ dogs for board clear and yard. All-cat lobbies stall on long outdoor objectives; all-dog lobbies bounce off high lamps. Call kits in chat before Day 6.

Movement scripts vs natural kits

WalkSpeed/JumpPower injectors can erase the cat/dog identity and soft-lock sleeps. If you research helpers, keep movement toggles off and read Survival Helper. Fair kits already solve 95% of routing pain.

Practice drills (10 minutes)

1. As cat: reach attic entry and one high lamp dummy path.
2. As dog: full six-chore sprint without Meow spam.
3. Both: sneeze-test into safe sleep without Wrong Lap.
4. Optional event pet: confirm jump to sunbeam only.

Related reading

• Characters and sitter context: Characters Hub, Marnie
• Patch mobility changes: Update 4
• Guide index: Guides Hub

Pick cat when the week goes up. Pick dog when the week goes wide. Everything else — hearts, food inspect, Not Marnie — stays identical, which means your body choice is a routing tool, not a difficulty toggle.