Starsand Island Pets Guide: How to Adopt Every Animal
Living alone on a massive island is great for avoiding taxes, but eventually you are going to want a furry companion to distract you from the endless farming grind.
I spent hours chasing down stray cats and throwing expensive cheese at foxes to figure out exactly how the companion system operates. You have a few different paths to adoption here. You can buy an animal outright if you are swimming in cash, you can rescue random strays, or you can slowly groom the local wildlife into loving you. Either way, you need a Pet House blueprint to actually keep them on your property. Here is everything you need to know to fill your home with animals.
The Three Paths to Adoption
You do not just snap your fingers and get a dog. The game forces you to put in some actual effort or drain your bank account.
Buying From Stella
If you hate grinding affection levels and just want a pet immediately, head over to Woof & Wow Pets on the north side of Starsand Town. Stella runs the place. She currently sells a dog named Scrappy and a cat named Nana. The massive catch is that they cost 7,500 Coins each. It is an absolute rip-off, but if you buy one, Stella throws in the Pet House blueprint for free.
Rescuing Random Strays
While you are out doing chores like fishing or mining, you might trigger a random event where a stray animal appears. If you feed it on the spot, the event continues. The next time you run into Pastelle, she will mention the stray, give it a bath, and hand you a recipe for a Bamboo Cat Ear Pet Bed. You need 1 Bamboo Strip and 3 Flannel to craft it. Build the bed, talk to Pastelle again, and the stray will magically hit affection level three. You can then adopt it for free.
Taming the Local Wildlife
This is the most tedious but rewarding method. You can find named animals wandering around the island. To adopt them, you have to stalk them daily, pet them, and force-feed them until they reach Affection Level 3.
Feeding them a food they absolutely love grants 15 affection points for the day. A food they just "like" gives 10 points. If you feed them garbage they hate, you get zero points and just wasted an item. Once you hit level three, the adopt prompt appears. Keep in mind that you still have to go buy the Pet House blueprint from Stella if you take this free route.
The Complete Pet Database
If you are hunting for a specific furry freeloader, you need to know exactly where they spawn and what kind of bribes they accept. Use the 'Residents' tab on your map to track their exact movements, because they wander around constantly.
