Article

How to tame a Minecraft cat without scaring it away

12 October 2026

Find a village cat, earn its trust with raw fish, and bring home a useful new Minecraft mate without chasing it across the rooftops.

A Minecraft cat can turn one quiet village visit into a rooftop chase. Run towards it and the cat bolts. Stand still with the right fish, though, and that suspicious little mob may decide you are worth following.

These steps work in both Java Edition and Bedrock Edition. A mob is any moving creature in Minecraft, while taming means making a wild creature your companion.

What you need

Bring several pieces of raw cod or raw salmon. Cooked fish will not work. You can catch fish with a fishing rod, or swim after cod and salmon in the water.

You also need to find a stray cat. Villages are the easiest place to look. Cats can have many different coats, so have a wander before choosing one if you want a particular colour.

Tame the cat

1. Put raw cod or raw salmon in your hand.

2. Stop a few blocks away from the cat. Do not sprint at it. Sudden movement makes approaching much harder.

3. Face the cat and wait. Keep holding the fish while it slowly comes closer.

4. When the cat is beside you, use the fish on it. On a computer, this is usually the right mouse button. Console and mobile controls depend on your settings.

5. Keep trying if grey smoke appears. Taming is random, so one fish may work or you may need several. Hearts and a collar mean you succeeded.

Keep your new mate safe

A tamed cat follows you and can teleport closer if you travel too far away. Use the cat with an empty hand to make it sit or stand. Sitting is handy when you are building near lava, cliffs, or other trouble.

Cats are more useful than they first look. Creepers and phantoms avoid them, although a cat cannot stop a creeper that has already started exploding. A cat sitting near your base can make the area less inviting to those mobs.

There is one funny problem. Cats like sitting on chests, beds, and active furnaces. If a cat blocks a chest, tempt it away with raw fish or tell your tamed cat to stand.

Sleep in a bed while your cat is standing nearby and it may curl up beside you. Sometimes it even leaves a morning gift. That is a pretty good reward for not charging through the village waving a fish like a maniac.