The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs: Vet clinic - how to start? Sims 4 Guide, tips
Last update: 07 April 2022
In Dogs and Cats, you can start your own veterinary clinic and treat pets of other Sims. First, you will have to invest some money into the place but afterwards, you will be receiving profits per each client.
How to start a veterinary clinic?
First use the phone and in the third menu choose the option Buy a veterinary clinic.
You now have to pick the world and an available plot of land. To start the business, you gave to meet three conditions and buy: Exam table, Registration podium and a trashcan.
After you have met those conditions, your clinic will start to work. Still, you should also ensure: Surgery station, Drug production station and Drug dispenser. Thanks to this, your clinic will gain in effectiveness - you will diagnose pets faster, which will speed up the process and maximize on your income.
How to treat animals?
Owners with their pets will come to your clinic soon after you open it. First, you can decide whether, or not, you want to admit the patient. If you decide that you do, the patient will get to the diagnostic table.
In the upper-left corner the Examination results menu will appear. First, the symptoms and the diagnosis will be unknown. You have to examine the animal - take the temperature, Examine the muzzle, Examine the eyes, examine the skin/coat, Listen to the breath, Listen to the heart. Keep doing that until you find out what the ailment is. You can pick the options one after another, but it is a good idea to take a closer look at the pet. If, e.g. you see fleas on the skin, pick Examine the skin/coat. What is also important is the Patient's stress level, presented by the pet's avatar, in the upper-left corner. If the pet is too stressed out, it will make it impossible to treat it properly. You can bring stress levels down by interacting with the animal: "Calm down the patient..." - you can calm the pet down yourself, but it is better to administer a sedative (which can be produced at the Drug production station).
If, on the Exam table, you have failed to recognize any symptoms, take the pet to the Surgery station. Here, you can perform more actions, such as X-Ray. Now, you should be able to recognize all of the symptoms.
If you have already recognized symptoms at the Exam table, access the Surgery tab. If there is a green thumb icon next to an option, perform it. Otherwise, return to the Exam table.
At the Exam table, select Treatment. Here, up/down thumb icons will also display. After you have treated the animal, you will receive your payment for the service.
After you select the return home option, a summary window for your clinic will pop up. You can examine the overall feedback, financial statement client satisfaction and worker's report.
How to manage the clinic?
In this subchapter, you will learn how to hire an employee, how to boost your income in the clinic and how to upgrade it.
In the bottom-right corner, there is a cash register icon. Click it and access Manage staff. Here, you can hire new staff for your clinic - of course, you have to offer a sufficient pay to them, but good staff will increase the performance of the clinic. By the avatar of each character, you will find their hourly rate and their skills:
- Vet - it affects the effectiveness of examining and treating pets.
- Handiness - it affects the effectiveness of maintenance of the clinic's machinery.
- Charisma- it affects the employee's interaction with patients and clients.
After you have right-clicked on an employee, you can change their assignment - it is best if it coincides with the employee's skills. One with high Vet skills is better assigned to treating animals, than to cleaning and maintenance. Also, you can pay to train your staff to perform a particular job, to increase their skills. Apart from that, you can fire, or promote them, as well as to appraise them (positive appraisal boosts their self-satisfaction, whereas negative one temporarily increases their effectiveness, but drives down their job satisfaction).
In the clinic management menu (chich you can also Access by clicking on the Cash register icon), you can set the levels of mark-up, advertising, quality of supply and change outfits of your staff.
- Mark-up - defines profits from examination and treatment. You can change the values within range of 75% and 200%. If you set the level high, you have to ensure the best service possible, or you will be receiving negative opinions from your clientele.
- Advertising - this attracts new clients. You can buy Gold pack for 240 Simleons per day, or Platinum pack, for 480 Simleons per day. This is costly, but it increases considerably the number of patients.
- Quality of supply - it affects the effectiveness of treatments. High quality translates into higher satisfaction of clients, but also higher costs. Supply quality can be changed only after you have bought the vet bonus Unlock quality of vet supply (see below to learn more).
Vet bonuses are special skills that improve on the clinic (you can access them after clicking on the cash register icon). To buy them, you require bonus points that you receive from effective treatments of animals, and from positive interaction with your clients. The available bonuses are:
- Extra vet no. 1 - thanks to this, you can hire another vet (at first, you can only have one employee). Cost: 350 bonus points.
- Rush hours in the vet clinic - temporarily, it increases the number of patients that come to your clinic (you can buy it multiple times). Cost: 500 bonus points.
- Unlock quality of vet supply - this unlocks the option of setting the quality of supply. Cost: 500 bonus points.
- Patience - helps you show off in front of the patients, thanks to speedy service and drives down their frustration. Cost: 600 bonus points.
- Extra vet no. 2 - gives you the option to hire another employee. Cost: 900 bonus points.
- Pep talk - unlocks the "Pep talk" interaction option which motivates your staff and increases their performance. Cost: 900 bonus points.
- Lower cost of staff training - it decreases the cost of training your employees. Cost: 1500 bonus points.
- Good management - decreases the occurrence of unfavorable conditions in the clinic, while your sim is away. Cost: 4500 bonus points.
- Decreased pet stress levels - decreases stress levels in animals subjected to treatment. Cost: 5000 bonus points.
- Protective gown - unlocks additional lab gown for your employees. Cost: 5000 bonus points.