Crazy for Cats

Today is Caturday - but with a twist! I'm featuring [Crazy for Cats] the achievement that gives you the title "the Crazy Cat Lady/Man". Please read the entire guide before starting to plan out which cats you plan on shooting for as they are obtained through a myriad of methods - some of them very cheap and simple, some of them expensive, rare, or very involved.

but is she a crazy cat lady or a crazy cat-lady?

This achievement is misleadingly difficult. There are 25 cats you can get and you only need 20, but unless you are willing to pay actual money or incredible amounts of gold on certain cats, there are exactly 20 cats that are "free" to obtain. Obtaining all of the free cats also requires active pet battling.

but I bought the cinder kitten because it's amazing

Tradeable/Cageable

There are thirteen cats which are cageable, which means you can buy all of them from the auction house if you so choose. Eight of these cageable cats are purchasable from vendors. If purchased from vendors, the total for these eight is 102g 80s.

• Donni Anthania sells four of them (Bombay Cat, Cornish Rex Cat, Orange Tabby Cat, Silver Tabby Cat) but is only available to alliance players. Luckily pets are account wide! If you don't have an alliance character, you can make an alt (make it human - she is in Elwynn Forest) and buy all four for a total of just 1g 60s.


• Lil Timmy sells the White Kitten for 60s and is also alliance only. This one is a tad trickier than the previous one for players without alliance characters, as Lil Timmy is a rare spawn who patrols around Stormwind - and he only sells one kitten at a time. It's still possible for a lowbie alliance alt to camp Lil Timmy's spawn point and purchase a kitten, but will require some invested time. If you would rather spend money than time, the kitten is usually available in the auction house.


• Dealer Rashaad in Netherstorm sells the Siamese Cat for just 60s. He also sells other pets, if you've never visited him before.


• Breanni in Dalaran sells the Calico Cat, along with two other pets, for 50g.


• Michelle De Rum in Winterspring sells the Winterspring Cub for 50g.

The remaining cageable cats are available through world events, farming, and crafting - with one exception.

• Lhara sells the Darkmoon Cub for 90 [Darkmoon Prize Tickets], which you will only be able to purchase while the Darkmoon Faire is in town.


• The Feline Familiar is only available during Hallow's End, purchased with 150 [Tricky Treats]. The vendor is Dorothy for alliance and Chub for horde.


• The Sapphire Cub is created with jewelcrafting and requires three spirits of harmony, so you either need to have a jewelcrafter or know a jewelcrafter.


• The Black Tabby Cat is a world drop in Hillsbrad Foothills, they are fairly rare.


• Guardian Cub was available for purchase from the Blizzard store for $10, but it has since been retired. Your only way of obtaining it now would be from another player.

The rest of the cats are not purchasable or tradeable and are acquired various ways.

Capturable 

Six of them are obtained through pet battles, five of them directly capturable. If you plan to get this achievement with minimal pet battling, be aware that the achievement is not acquirable without capturing at least one of these five cats, and expensive without capturing all five.

If you don't already pet battle and don't really know how to capture pets, level up a Terrible Turnip. He is the only pet with an ability that will never kill the enemy (similar to false swipe from pokemon). He is obtained by harvesting an Ominous Seed which is found randomly while harvesting vegetable crops, though he is purchasable on the auction house. You won't need a full team of level 25 pets - the max level cat that you'll have to capture is around 14.

• Cat (just 'cat') is encountered at level 1-20 and is located in several zones. (warcraftpets)


• Cheetah Cub is encountered at level 3-10 in Northern and Southern Barrens. (warcraftpets)


• Fluxfire Feline is encountered at level 1-2 in Dun Morogh. (warcraftpets)


• Sand Kitten is encountered at level 13-14 in Tanaris. (warcraftpets)


• Snow Cub is encountered at level 1-6 in Dun Morogh and Loch Modan. (warcraftpets)

...and the rest

Xu-Fu, Cub of Xuen is the most difficult 'free' cat to obtain. In order to obtain him, you have to fully complete The Celestial Tournament at least once. If you don't have at least 30 level 25 battle pets and the patience and willpower to do so, you will have to purchase a guardian cub on the auction house, a cinder kitten from the Blizzard store, or one of the trading cards in order to get this achievement. If you are up for the challenge, I have some links to celestial tournament guides:

• Battle Pet Roundup's Celestial Tournament Walkthrough
• WoW Pet Battle Celestial Tournament Guide
• Zagam's Celestial Tournament Guide on Icy Veins
• A Pet Battler's Guide to: Defeating the Celestial Tournament on Wowhead

The remaining cats are obtained in various ways:

• Mr. Bigglesworth is technically obtainable through the auction house - the pets required for the achievement that awards him, [Raiding with Leashes], are all cageable.


• Panther Cub is obtained through a questline in Stranglethorn/Zul'Gurub. The quest starts in Stormwind Harbor/Valley of Spirits and is slightly lengthy.


• Spectral Cub was a promotional pet the Shanghai 2012 Battle.net World Championship, so unless you already have it, you probably will have trouble getting it. It has been rumored to be on the BMAH but not confirmed.


• Cinder Kitten ($10) is purchased in the Blizzard store.


• Nightsaber Cub (~$20) and Spectral Tiger Cub (~$120) are from the WoW TCG, which means they are purchasable for real money if you buy the card/code associated with them. UPDATE: it appears that these pets are cageable and can be bought and sold on the auction house.

To summarize, the cats that are not "free" are Guardian Cub, Spectral Cub, Cinder Kitten, Nightsaber Cub, and Spectral Tiger Cub. If you do not want to spent real money on trading cards or at the Blizzard store, or don't have enough gold to purchase a Guardian Cub from the auction house, you will have to obtain every one of the other cats.

If you need help getting started pet battling, I've made another guide here.

Previous Caturday Posts
1    2    3    4    5   
Or visit the directory