The cat does not react to my keyboard
This is the top symptom for every desktop pet, and the fix ladder is the same:
- Check the app is actually running in the tray or menu bar, not just installed.
- Re-grant input access. macOS may revoke input monitoring after an update; re-enable the app in system settings. This step is documented for similar overlay apps and is the first thing to check on a Mac.
- Restart the app before anything more creative.
Steam version: the cat stopped punching the taskbar
For the Steam game, first confirm the game process is running (it is an app you launch, not a permanent overlay). Community reports also point to conflicts with other overlay software; if you run multiple desktop pets or overlays, close the others and test. If the game itself will not start, verify files through Steam and reinstall from the official store page only.
Startup crashes or a blank cat
- Check your source. Unofficial installers are the most common cause of broken installs. Reinstall from the channels in the download guide.
- Check your OS version. The vladelaina pet targets current Windows, macOS and Linux releases; very old systems are not a supported target.
- On Linux, re-check build dependencies. The README lists the exact packages (
build-essential,cmake,ninja, SDL3 and OpenGL libraries). A missing dependency is the usual cause of a failed build.
A model will not load
Model problems are usually format problems, with one piece of good news for this app: per the README, the vladelaina pet imports Mver sources, Tauri (ayangweb) sources, Live2D .model3.json files and image patches, normalizing them into its own Mver install format, so a model from a neighboring ecosystem usually loads. What is not documented is the reverse, other apps reading packages this app has installed. The models page explains which format belongs to which app.
"Gaming mode": a Steam game feature
"Gaming mode" belongs to the Steam game, not to the open-source pets. The community FAQ thread on the game's Steam hub (February 2025) describes both getting stuck in it and the way out: focus the Bongo Cat window with Alt+Tab or by clicking its taskbar icon, press F4 to toggle the mode off, or restart the game. We could not open the original thread directly, so treat the F4 shortcut as community-documented rather than store-page official. The open-source pets have no such mode to fix.
Where to report what the page did not fix
Each project handles bugs in its own tracker: the vladelaina repository issues for the main pet, the Steam community hub for the game. For questions about which cat you even have, start at the versions table.