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We've been quiet about perhaps the biggest question on everyone's mind:

What old-world pets are being removed in Cataclysm?

Why the silence? Because no pets can truly be confirmed as "no longer available" until AFTER the expansion is out. Blizzard will be making fixes, additions and tweaks up until the last minute. So we'd hate to be the instigator of pet collector panic or skyrocketing auction prices based solely on speculation.

Still, we felt it important to share the facts on the few pets that have yet to be confirmed in the beta. We're not saying these pets are going away. But you might consider bumping these six to the top of your "wanted" list, just to be safe.

Missing whelplings
If you don't yet have 'em, we recommend puttng the Azure Whelpling, Crimson Whelpling and Emerald Whelpling at the tippy-top of your list. All of the mobs that drop these three whelps have been removed from Azeroth without a trace. So if you're concerned about their future availability, scope out the AH or grab some big ol' farming bags—these rainbow whelplings should be your top priority.

Oddly enough the Dark Whelpling has been confirmed to drop from the original mobs, at least in the Badlands. So this gives us hope that the other colors will find their way back into the game as well. Our fingers are crossed.

Other questionable pets
Each of the remaining pets will probably be restored before Cataclysm ships. But we can't be certain, so pick 'em up in the coming weeks if you can.

• Black Tabby - Many of the mobs that drop this former Maine Coon are no longer present in the beta, including the Spellscribe (rare spawn). Summoners and Shield Guards both still exist near the old Dalaran site, but they currently have no loot tables (a bug?), so we're not sure whether they'll drop the tabby or not.
• Razzashi Hatchling - The Zul'Gurub instance has been removed entirely and the surrounding area is being redesigned. So it's possible that our Razzashi friend will show up in a rare-spawn nest in that new area. Still, you might want to nab this little raptor for good measure.

• Sprite Darter Hatchling (Alliance) - The quest chain that awarded this pet to Alliance "parents" has been removed. The Horde can still farm the darter without a hitch, but we're told it doesn't drop for the Alliance. We remain hopeful that the developers will update the quest chain, or at least enable the drop for both factions.

Fishing for pets
Also note that fishing has yet to be enabled in the beta. But we're fairly confident that our fished-up friends aren't going anywhere. We expect all of them to be confirmed when the secondary skill is activated.

Don't panic!
This news is likely to be unnerving for many collectors, especially you newcomers. Remember, we're not saying any of these pets have been removed. We're saying they're on our watch list. Our hope is that the developers will add them back into the ever-changing cataclysmic landscape in the weeks to come.

Special thanks
Finally, we'd like to extend a great big "THANKS!" to Wain for doing a SMOKIN' job of keeping us up to speed on all the old-world pets in Cataclysm. Thanks for the ongoing assist, Wain!

UPDATE: The Singing Sunflower has been given a fresh new model (pictured). We're thrilled that it no longer resembles the Ammen Vale Lashling and we LOVE the new model!

The sunflower also now (sometimes) sings upon summoning! Da-da do di do-di do di ♪ There's a zombie on your lawn! ♪

Check it out for yourself in TotalBiscuit's video (featuring the old model). The randomness of its singing could be a bug.

Singing Sunflower Pet collectors will really enjoy earning this pet! It's a reward from what many are calling the funnest new quest in Cataclysm! The area in Hillsbrad near the Dalaran Crater will be the home of a full-blown quest chain inspired by PopCap's wildly popular Plants vs. Zombies PC game. WoW's version has been retitled, Peacebloom vs. Ghouls. The quest mechanics are almost identical to PopCap's game, and completing the quest chain rewards you with the pet. Also, the composer for PvZ has confirmed that she's recording the voice for the singing sunflower (fitting, given that she sang the PvZ theme song during the credits roll).

Currently the pet uses the same model as the Ammen Vale Lashling, however it's animation features musical notes radiating from it. Hopefully the model will change... us pet collectors enjoy variety.

Our friend TotalBiscuit added a video to his YouTube channel that shows the quest in action.

Fossilized Hatchling
Commonly referred to as a "Skeletal Raptor," this little guy is learned via Archaeology (the Fosil Tree) after grinding the skill to the higher levels. At the moment, it requires 85 Fossil Archaeology Fragments, which are obtained while grinding up the highly anticipated new skill.

For you mount collectors, there is also a Fossilized Raptor mount. It requires 100 Fossil Archaeology Fragments. TotalBiscuit also posted a video of both the pet and the mount in action—check it out!

We're excited to announce a new monthly feature for WarcraftPets: a web comic exclusively for WoW pet collectors by our own Miggea! You can look forward to a new World of Petcraft strip on the first Sunday of each month. Enjoy!




About the Artist
Meaghan McLaughlin is an aspiring artist and the author of "Nerds Illustrated." You can enjoy more of her work here.

The Clockwork Gnome has been confirmed as a new pet discoverable through archaeology. It is a rare item that requires 100 fragments to complete within the Dwarf branch of archaeology.

The item that teaches this pet, which currently only says "Use", had us worried that this cool little gnome might not be a true vanity pet. Thankfully, we need not have worried. As you can see in this video from Inico, the Clockwork Gnome can be learned and summoned just like any other companion pet. Hopefully in just a couple more months we can all start getting our hands dirty looking for this and other archaeology pets!

Our friends at MMO-Champion have posted a nice summary preview of Cataclysm pets. We invite you to check it out for yourselves. Below are links to pet pictures not previously posted at WarcraftPets. Enjoy the sneak peak!

• Blue Mini Jouster
• Pebble
• Rumbling Rockling
• Swirling Stormling
• Whirling Waveling
• Guild Herald / Guild Page
• Fox Kit

This last one has us more than a little confused. Hardboiled Egg teaches a pet and the summoning spell associated with it, Eat the Egg, appears to be linked to a baby blue murloc. Before everyone starts fainting from uncontrollable squeeing, please remember that this is still the beta, we don't know all the details, and anything can change before Cataclysm goes live. That being said, I do honestly hope this means everyone will finally have a chance to get a baby murloc pet of their very own! Though I do hope they decide to change it to a new color like green or orange. Keep your fingers crossed and we'll be sure to let you know as soon as we get any more information.

WarcraftPets' very own Drrum is featured in today's 15 Minutes of Fame at WoW Insider. Many of you may already be familiar with Druum's incredible screenshots showcasing her unique collection of pets and coordinating armor sets. She has put so much thought and creativity into capturing these beautiful scenes. We are so proud to see her receive this well-deserved recognition!

This is not Drrum's first honor for WoW pet-related artistic accomplishment. She was a grand prize winner in Blizzard's 2009 Holiday Card Contest for her design featuring the Northrend Orphans. Drrum also took first place in our Ad-It-Up Contest for her awesome web ad designs. Way to go, Drrum!

You can even download banners created by Drrum to help promote your favorite WoW companion-collecting community website... that's us!

We're excited to announce yet another Site Admin to join our growing team: Quintessence! She'll be instrumental in helping Sateena and I keep you up-to-date on new pets and all that juicy pet-related news. Many of you will already recognize Quint as a seasoned veteran of reporting the latest companion headlines on her own Perks N Peeves pet blog. Great stuff!

We know Quintessence is going to be a valuable member of our staff. Please offer her your grats and salutations in the comments.
Welcome aboard, Quint!

Fresh from the Cataclysm beta comes news of possible new combat companions. The Blue and Gold Mini Jousters, which were previously pictured as solitary birds, are in fact condors carrying lance-wielding rag dolls. These pets can be learned and summoned like any other companion, but (for the time being, anyway) they can aggro, attack, and damage mobs. Mobs can attack them back and even "kill" them, though they can simply be resummoned as good as new.

We already have vanity pets that can fight each other, such as Warbots, Clockwork Rocket Bots, and Grunty and the Zergling. And there are pets like the Toxic Wasteling, Willy, and Lil' K.T. who can kill critters. But so far all vanity pets have been 'non-combat' — they cannot help you fight other mobs. So it comes as quite a shock that the Mini Jousters seem to buck this trend. They are level 80 with nearly 31k hp and they can hit other mobs of their level for over 900 dmg per swing. You can even heal them up if their health drops. We're guessing their unique ability to attack mobs is a bug.

Another possible bug: they currently do not fly behind players on flying mounts. Instead, they will follow along the ground, where they can aggro hostile mobs.

We would not be at all surprised if the Mini Jousters' mechanics were changed so they could only fight each other. But in the highly unlikely event that they remain 'combat' companions, we can all expect to see a lot of them flying around Azeroth in December!

The first pre-Cataclysm Patch is live! Along with talent changes and updated game mechanics, the user interface has been revamped.

For pet collectors, you will now find your pet tab within your spellbook instead of your character screen. Pets are still listed in alphabetical order, but the names of each companion are now conveniently listed next to their summoning icon as well. This should make it easier to find and summon that special vanity pet without having to memorize the companion's corresponding icon image!

Also, we'd like to remind everyone to update your addons since they will likely be outdated and broken due to the many UI changes. Be sure to check out the Addons for Pet Collectors page for tons of neat companion addons!

MMO-Champion recently discovered two new surprises in the latest beta patch files:

• Lil' Alexstrasza - Right Click to summon or dismiss Lil' Alexstrasza. / Instant
• Lil' Ragnaros - Right Click to summon or dismiss Lil' Ragnaros. / Instant

When and how these two companions will be available is still a mystery, but with names very similar to Lil' K.T. and Lil' XT it wouldn't be surprising to see them appear in the Blizzard PetStore.

We're definitely eager to find out more about Lil' Alexstrasza and Lil' Ragnaros! Stay tuned for more information in the future.

What emotes or abilities are you hoping Lil' Alexstrasza and Lil' Ragnaros have? Check out our Twitter and leave us a tweet to share your ideas. Don't forget to use the hash tag, #WoWPetQA, in your message!

UPDATE: On November 10, Blizzard stated the Razzashi Hatchling will find a new home post-Cataclsym.
Details »

Well, collectors... we've got some good news and some bad news. Let's get the bad out of the way first.

We now have official confirmation from Blizzard (via Wow Insider) that one of the pets we listed as a possible removal is definitely being pulled when the cataclysm strikes. It's true... the Razzashi Hatchling from Zul'Gurub (along with the Swift Zulian Tiger and other mounts) will be unobtainable when patch 4.0.3 hits. So if he's on your list, he should be your absolute TOP priority. Even if you've already got him, we suggest farming for extras. Since he's doesn't bind when picked up, he can be sold to other collectors in the years to come. We're guessing his auction price will be the highest ever for a companion, so he's well worth stocking up.

So what's the good news?

Well, Blizzard has broken their silence on which items will no longer be available in the near future. It is possible that they overlooked an item or two. But this announcement does make us feel better about the chances of the other 5 pets we've been watching. With Blizzard's official statement, we're optimistic that those other pets will still being available (in some fashion) after the world changes.

So breath a sigh of relief and go farm some baby Razzashies!

For those of you who are lucky enough to be attending BlizzCon next week, we've got a couple of special pet collecting treats for you!

WarcraftPets Meet-and-Greet!
Join me, Breanni (Brian), along with Doobjanka (Curtis) and Sateena (Melissa) for our 2010 BlizzCon Meet-and-Greet! I know... I know... I previously mentioned I wasn't able to attend this year. But my luck turned AWESOME at the last minute and now I'm BlizzCon-bound!

Just like last year's meet-and-greet, this will be a casual get-together that's open to anyone who's a fan of our site or pet collecting in general. We tentatively have the event scheduled as follows, but check our news or Twitter feed the day beforehand, just in case of any last-minute changes.

WHEN:        Friday, 4-5 PM
WHERE:      Realm Meetings section
LOOK FOR:  A WarcraftPets sign / admins wearing white WarcraftPets T-shirts

So don't be shy! Drop by and say hello. We'd love to meet you and put some faces with the usernames.

Limited Edition Grunty FigurePet
In addition to dropping by to meet our staff, BlizzCon attendees will also be able to purchase a brand new FigurePet to commemorate the occasion. This year we have Grunty the murloc marine immortalized as 3" tall figurine to shoot it out with the rest of your FigurePets collection!

Grunty will only be sold at the BlizzCon store. Be sure to get him early — only 1500 were made, so supplies are limited.

There have been some changes to a few Cataclysm pets as well as news of a possible new WoW Trading Card Game companion!

Enchanting pets skill increased
Wowhead is now listing the Magic Lamp and Enchanted Lantern formulas as requiring an enchanting skill of 525 (up from 500). These recipes are also now rare in quality and have had the materials necessary to craft each pet updated. How they will be obtained is still unknown.

Engineering pets now bind on use
The De-Weaponized Mechanical Companion and Personal World Destroyer have been updated as well. Previously labeled as bind on pick up, they are now bind on use on the beta. This is subject to change come expansion release, so we'll just have to wait and see what Blizzard ultimately decides on. Whether you're for or against these pets as bind on use, they are absolutely lovely companions and would be wonderful new additions to your pet family.

Whelplings in Cataclysm
There will be many awesome new pets to hunt for in the expansion, but what about the older ones? Fear not, Blizzard has not forgotten them!

In response to an inquiry about the future of the whelpling pets in Cataclysm, Lylirra has stated on the official WoW forums:

"We're in the process of finding new homes for each of these whelps. While we've not settled on where just yet, it looks like we'll be able to keep them as non-combat companions.

This is subject to change, of course, but the house-hunting appears to be going well. (We'll keep you updated should our relocation plans change.)"

This is reassuring news, and we remain confident and hopeful that the whelplings will not be lost or disappear in the wake of Deathwing's temper tantrum on Azeroth.

New TCG companion?
Speaking of tantrums... our friends over at WoWTCGLoot have discovered a new loot card pet that will likely be found within the upcoming TCG expansion pack, Worldbreaker. It's Lil' XT's evil twin, Landro's Lil' XT! Or is Landro's version the good one?

As far as we can tell, Landro's Lil' XT has the same model (and possibly similar vocalizations and animations) to Lil' XT. The main difference is that the former will be available through the WoW TCG, while the latter is already available from the Blizzard PetStore. According to the item's flavor text, Landro's Lil' XT is intended to be "a near-perfect, Goblin-manufactured knockoff of the Wonderworks original," proving that Blizzard can poke fun at their own duplicate pets.

It looks like things are shaping up quite nicely as Cataclysm draws nearer. We'll continue to keep everyone updated with any other pet changes!

In addition to the revamped companion interface, Patch 4.0.1 introduced a couple surprise pet-related changes.

Collector's Edition Pets
The Panda Cub, Mini Diablo and Zergling are now all sent directly to new characters created with an original WoW Collector's Edition account. Previously, characters received a "This Item Begins a Quest" gift voucher that could be turned in for their choice of one of the three CE pets. Since each pet's summoning item is bind-on-account, it was only a matter of time and effort to get all three pets on any given character. This change simply makes it easier to add these lil' cuties to your collection.

Searing Scorchling
The companion formerly known as Scorchling has gained a new descriptive moniker. Henceforth, this flaming elemental shall be known as Searing Scorchling. This change comes in keeping with the elemental pet naming convention that began with the Frigid Frostling and continues with upcoming Cataclysm pets such as the Rumbling Rockling, Swirling Stormling and Whirling Waveling. I wonder what other alliterative elementals might be added in the future. Shady Shadowling? Balmy Bogling?

MMO-Champion has discovered yet another possible Cataclysm pet in an upcoming beta build.

• Moonkin Hatchling - Right Click to summon or dismiss a Moonkin Hatchling.

There's no information on how this interesting companion may be obtained yet or if it's even intended to be released with the expansion, however we look forward to reporting any news that may arise in the near future! We'll definitely be sure to announce if Blizzard is planning on creating a druid-form critter army as well.

Another intriguing item discovered in MMO-Champion's item database is the Baby Coralshell Turtle. The tooltip states that it requires a fishing skill of 450. Could this be a new fishing daily reward? However, it must be noted that it is not listed as a learned item which may indicate that it may not be a true vanity pet.

There are many other unconfirmed companion items and spells shown on both MMO-Champion as well as Wowhead, although some have been in the databases for a while. With the discovery of the Moonkin Hatchling and the Baby Coralshell Turtle added to the list, we can only continue to hope that we will finally see a few of these lurker pets in Cataclysm.

Deathy's here!
Deathy, the new pet obtained from attending BlizzCon (or purchasing the live stream), is now live on WarcraftPets! Check out his profile and give him a rating!

WarcraftPets Meet-and-Greet
Plus a quick reminder... Breanni (Brian), Doobjanka (Curtis), Weena (James) and Sateena (Melissa) will be hosting this year's BlizzCon Meet-and-Greet! It's open to anyone who's a fan of our site or pet collecting in general.

WHEN:        Friday, 4-5 PM
WHERE:      Realm Meetings section
LOOK FOR:  A WarcraftPets sign / admins wearing white WarcraftPets T-shirts

We hope to see you there and meet you face-to-face!

If you were unable to attend Blizzcon or watch the live stream of this morning's opening ceremony, Blizzard's CEO Michael Morhaime announced that over the past year, purchases of the Pandaren Monk raised over 1.1 million dollars for the Make a Wish Foundation! That's amazing and truly heartwarming news.

On that same note, he also stated that a new charity companion will be available for purchase from the Blizzard PetStore this November, the Moonkin Hatchling!

It was not announced which charity the proceeds will be going to, or whether 100% of the Moonkin Hatchling purchases will be donated or only a portion of each purchase. We'll have more on this new pet as well as the charity details once the information becomes available.

BlizzCon 2010 is over and we've already reported on the big pet-related news announced during the opening ceremony. Yep... baby moonkins will soon be coming to a Blizzard Pet Store near you! But we have a bit more news to report from the show, plus pictures!

Chatting with Ghostcrawler
I had the privilege of attending the 2010 community summit. Several representatives from various fansites and communities were invited to tour Blizzard's HQ and mingle with key members of Blizzard's staff. I took the opportunity to ask Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street a few questions about what might be in store for pet collectors in WoW's future.

A picture of a baby seahorse recently surfaced, so I asked Ghostcrawler whether this might mean our first water-only companion. While he couldn't confirm whether the mechanic was in place for water-only pets, he did state with some certainty that a baby seahorse would be making it's way into the game at some point after Cataclysm is released.

I also asked Ghostcrawler whether we'd ever be able to name our companions, like hunters name their combat pets. He said that this was something that they've thought a lot about and, to my surprise, it's already on their to-do list. But before you get too excited, he also hinted that it will be a long, long way off. Still, the fact that they've been considering it is pretty good news for those of us who've been hoping for the feature.

WarcraftPets Second Meet-and-Greet
Our second meet-and-greet was perhaps even more exciting than our first. Site admins Breanni (Brian), Doobjanka (Curtis), Weena (James) and Sateena (Melissa) were on hand to say hello to many fans. We were a bit better prepared this time. Each of us wore a WacraftPets T-shirt and we had a large sign to mark our location.

We encouraged all of our visitors to sign in with their WarcraftPets username. As a way of thanking those of you who stopped by and signed our guest book, we'll be sending a little something your way in the days to come. So keep an eye on your email.

Thanks again to everyone who dropped by. Your kind words and thoughtful suggestions go a long way to help us maintain and improve the site. Until BlizzCon 2011, Happy Collecting!

Even though these pets weren't high on our watch list, we have some good news for pet collectors who were concerned about the fate of the Hyacinth Macaw, Smolderweb Hatchling, and Worg Pup in Cataclysm!

There have been multiple reports from the beta of the Hyacinth Macaw being a zone drop in Stranglethorn Vale. From raptors to trolls, it seems as if the macaw has been added to many of the STV inhabitants' loot tables, so this stunning bird may be even easier to obtain in the expansion!

Two other pets that we can expect to continue on into Cataclysm are the Smolderweb Hatchling and the Worg Pup. A blue poster has confirmed that the quests to obtain these two companions will still exist, however the quests will be adjusted to fit into the revamping of Azeroth.

Hopefully this will alleviate some anxiety about the future of these three pets. We remain fairly confident that only pet that's being removed in Cataclysm is the Razzashi Hatchling. We'll let you know if any other pets are likely to be removed.