In WoW Classic you feed a hunter pet by pressing the Feed Pet ability (learned from your hunter trainer at level 10 after the taming quests) and then clicking a food item in your bags that matches your pet's diet. Check the diet on the Pet tab of your character sheet; the food must not be too far below the pet's level, and the pet needs about 20 seconds out of combat to finish eating.
Feeding a pet step by step
- Open your character sheet (default C) and click the Pet tab. The Diet line lists what this pet will accept: Meat, Fish, Fruit, Fungus, Bread or Cheese.
- Put a matching food in your bags. Raw drops from beasts (boar ribs, wolf meat, bear meat) count as Meat — no cooking needed.
- Cast Feed Pet from the Beast Training spellbook page. Your cursor changes; click the food stack.
- Stay out of combat. The pet gets a short eating buff and its happiness climbs as it ticks. Taking or dealing damage cancels it.
- Watch the face icon next to the pet's portrait: red is Unhappy (75% damage), yellow is Content (100%), green is Happy (125%). Feed until it is green.
What to feed each pet type
| Pet family | Diet | Cheap source |
| Cat, Owl, Carrion Bird, Crocolisk | Meat, Fish | Beast drops; jerky and mutton from food vendors |
| Wolf, Raptor, Spider, Scorpid | Meat only | Whatever you loot while leveling |
| Bear, Boar | Everything | Vendor bread or cheese — easiest pets to keep fed |
| Gorilla, Bat | Fruit, Fungus | Fruit and mushroom vendors in capital cities |
| Turtle | Fish, Fruit, Fungus, Bread | Vendor bread, fishing catches |
| Wind Serpent | Bread, Cheese, Fish | Innkeeper bread, cheese vendors |
Vendor food is sold by innkeepers and the trade-district specialists (baker, cheese seller, fruit and fish stalls). Buy a stack sized to the pet's level bracket and you are set for hours.
Why won't my pet eat the food?
Two reasons cover almost every case. First, the food type is not in the pet's diet — a wolf will refuse an apple no matter how hungry it is. Second, the food is too low level. A pet only accepts food within a band below its own level: a level 10–19 pet eats food no more than 10 levels under it, a level 20–29 pet up to 20 levels under, and from level 30 up to 30 levels under. That level 1 bread you kept from the starting zone stops working on a level 25 boar.
Also confirm you are not in combat and that you actually have the Feed Pet ability — it comes with the level 10 taming quest chain, together with Tame Beast, Call Pet and Revive Pet.
How do I feed my pet with one click?
Make a macro and keep it on your bar. Replace the food name with whatever you carry:
/cast Feed Pet
/use Roasted Quail
Press it once and the pet starts eating. If the macro fires but nothing happens, the item name is misspelled or the stack ran out.
What happens if I don't feed my pet?
Happiness drains slowly over time and faster when the pet fights. An Unhappy pet deals only 75% of its normal damage and starts losing loyalty. Let that slide long enough and the pet abandons you, which is expensive after you spent training points on it. Feeding costs a few copper; replacing a pet does not. A quick habit: feed right after every dismount or rest stop before pulling again.
Does higher-level food give more happiness?
Yes. Food closer to the pet's level fills the bar faster, so the cheapest plan is buying the vendor food in the right bracket for your pet's current level, not carrying one giant stack of low-level scraps. Cooked meals also work but rarely beat plain vendor food per copper.
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