Diseases and injuries

Cats living in the wild often fall as victims to a number of diseases and injuries. It is the job of the Clan's medicine cat to treat these conditions.

Diseases and Conditions

Chest Infections

Whitecough and greencough are the most common chest infections known to the Clan cats. Whitecough is the milder form, but if untreated, it can develop into the much more severe greencough. Cats usually catch it during leaf-fall and leaf-bare, and sometimes it develops into large-scale epidemics. It can be fatal for elders and kits, and it has claimed the lives of many cats. It spreads quickly and is highly contagious.

Medicine cats treat it using catmint. The first ThunderClan medicine cat, Cloudspots, found out that this was the best remedy. If fevers accompany the cough, tansy or borage is used as well.

In Into the Wild, a disease named kitten-cough is mentioned. Runningnose tells about a herb used to cure it, though it has disappeared since Twolegs came to the forest.

In Moonrise, Mothwing mentions blackcough as a form of chest infection.

In Moth Flight's Vision, Micah mentions that redcough was an illness in the farm where a cat coughed up blood. It is also mentioned by Thunderstar in Thunderstar's Echo.

In Thunder and Shadow, a disease by the name of yellowcough infects and kills several cats in ShadowClan, and is curable only by a plant named lungwort. It causes a loss of appetite, fever, difficulty breathing, delirium, and sore throats.

Poisoning

Poisoning is the ingestion of a substance that causes harm to the body, such as:

• Eating or drinking poisonous substances or plants such as deathberries. Kits are the ones who usually fall victim to this, being curious and unaware of the danger.
• Eating poisoned or rotten prey (known as crow-food) or drinking tainted water.
• Inhaling too much smoke from a fire.
• Being bitten by a venomous animal such as a snake.

If only a small quantity of poison is ingested, the cat usually just receives a bellyache, but larger amounts can cause death. Medicine cats treat these bellyaches with yarrow or nettle leaves, while mild bellyaches can be treated with juniper or watermint. If a cat has been severely poisoned (as in eating deathberries, as Sorrelkit does in The Darkest Hour) they may become unconscious for a length of time.

Rat-Borne Infections

The cats sometimes fall victims to infections carried by rats. One of these infections is called Carrionplace Disease. The first ShadowClan medicine cat, Pebbleheart, realized that rats were a source of disease. As ShadowClan cats sometimes ate the rats from the Carrionplace in The Forest, they were prone to catch these diseases. This happens in Rising Storm, when two ShadowClan cats, Littlecloud and Whitethroat, come to ThunderClan for help because their Clan is in chaos from the deadly and contagious disease. Yellowfang sends them away because she doesn't want ThunderClan to become infected, but Cinderpelt wants to help them and comes up with a cure. Nightstar dies from Carrionplace disease during this time, which is why the Clan was in chaos (they thought it had ripped all nine lives from him when in fact he only had one life because Brokenstar was still alive).^[source?] Burdock root is used to stop infection from rat bites.

Loss of Sensory Perception

A cat may lose their eyesight or hearing due to old age as One-eye of ThunderClan did before her death, or from accidents and infections, or birth defects. These conditions usually end their career as a warrior, as they cannot hunt or fight efficiently, and must retire as elders, such as Longtail.^[source?] Kits born with defects usually die young, unless they have special skills compensating it, like in Jayfeather's case.^[source?] Kits that are white with blue eyes have a higher chance of being born deaf, like Snowkit.

Joint Aches

A condition usually associated with elders, the joints gradually degenerating with age, causing pain and difficulty to move. Damp environments can cause the appearance of this condition, so apprentices must make sure that the moss they gather for bedding is completely dry. It is usually treated using daisy or ragwort poultices.^[source?]

Toothache

A toothache is caused by a cracked tooth, cavities, or an infection in the mouth. Alder bark is used to soothe the pain.

Fever

Fever is an abnormally high temperature of the body. It is not a disease in itself, but it usually signs the presence of an infection, such as greencough or an infected wound. If needed, it can be treated with feverfew, borage, or lavender.

Chills

Chills are mostly associated with cold weather or being submerged in cold water for a long period of time. Although this condition is mild and is not a disease, it has claimed the lives of Mosskit and Hollykit. Kits and elders are more at risk of dying when they get a chill. Licking a cat's fur the wrong way gets the blood flowing again. A poultice of lavender, catmint, and feverfew is also a good remedy.

Other Diseases

Several other diseases were mentioned in the books; however, the cats do not have names for them. Examples include the conditions of Pebblefur, Shellheart, Tawnyspots,, Leopardstar, Petalfall, and Ravenpaw.

Injuries

Wounds

Wounds are injuries when the skin and the muscles beneath are torn, cut, or punctured. They may put a cat's life in danger due to blood loss, infections, or the damage of the organs. Wounds are the most common injuries, due to the nature of the cats often fighting rival Clans, or enemy animals such as badgers, foxes, or dogs.

Minor wounds heal on their own in no time, but severe wounds must be treated by a medicine cat. This treatment includes cleaning it thoroughly with the tongue, stopping the bleeding by pressing cobwebs or moss on it, and applying poultices to prevent infection and help it to heal. Herbs used in the poultices often include goldenrod, marigold, burdock root, or (in the case of rat bites) wild garlic. If the wound becomes infected, chervil or horsetail is used as well. The pain can be eased with poppy seeds or willow bark.

Sprains

Sprains are injuries to ligaments of a joint, caused by being stretched beyond their normal capacity and possibly torn. It causes severe pain and decreased ability to move the joint. The cat must rest for several days.

Joint Dislocation

Joint dislocation is the displacement of a bone from its normal joint. Medicine cats treat this condition by first feeding the patient poppy seeds to make them sleepy so they don't feel it as much, and then forcing the limb back into the joint.

Cracked Pads

The paw pads may crack while walking long distances on hard surfaces, or due to cold weather. Elders are especially prone to this condition. It is treated with a poultice of coltsfoot or yarrow. Dock leaf poultices are also used to cool cracked pads.^[source?]

Broken Bones

A broken bone is usually the result of an accident, such as falling down from a high place, or being hit by a monster. Cats most often break their legs, and while medicine cats try to bind the bone with cobwebs, the injury usually results in the cat remaining crippled for the rest of their life. Only a few of these crippled cats survived, the best known being Cinderpelt.

A more severe injury is when a cat breaks their backbone. This results in the cat being unable to feel or move parts of their body. If the break is bad enough the cat will be killed on or shortly after impact. Briarlight broke her backbone, and as a result, her back legs no longer function and she has no control over her bowel movements. Wildfur also broke his backbone, and since he only sat in his nest all day, he got fluid in his lungs and eventually died from not exercising.

Book Mentions

Chest Infections

Chest infections mentioned in the Warriors books come in three stages; whitecough, greencough and blackcough. Little is known about blackcough; the black may be blood.

• In Fire and Ice, two of Brindleface's kits die and Bluestar loses a life to greencough.
• In A Dangerous Path, Crookedstar loses his last life to greencough.
• In Sunset, Heavystep supposedly dies from greencough.
• Between Sunset and The Sight, Molepaw has died from greencough.
• In The Sight, Brackenfur and Birchfall are treated for whitecough and later there is a greencough outbreak in all four Clans.
• One of the largest epidemics known in the book series is in Long Shadows, where lots of ThunderClan cats, including Firestar himself, fell ill with greencough. It starts with Millie and Briarkit before quickly spiraling out of control, giving signs as to just how fast the sickness can spread. The sick cats are isolated at the Abandoned Twoleg nest to avoid getting the healthy cats catch the disease. No single-lifed cat dies, although Firestar loses a life.
• In Code of the Clans, it mentions Snowstar, Brightwhisker and Poppydawn dying from greencough.
• In Secrets of the Clans, it mentions Lizardstripe dying from greencough.
• Bluestar's Prophecy and Secrets of the Clans both reveal Featherwhisker dying from greencough.
• In Crookedstar's Promise, Willowbreeze, Willowkit, and Minnowkit all die from greencough.

Poisoning

• In Bluestar's Prophecy, Rosepaw, Sweetpaw, and Bluefur all share a bad mouse and get sick. Sweetpaw dies from this, but Bluefur and Rosepaw survive. Earlier, when Bluekit and Snowkit are in Goosefeather's den, he mentions that Smallear was bitten by an adder, but he would survive.
• In Forest of Secrets, Cloudkit attempts to eat deathberries and receives a stern lecture from Cinderpaw. Yellowfang kills her son Brokentail by feeding him deathberries.
• In Rising Storm, Halftail, Patchpelt, and Yellowfang die after inhaling too much smoke from the fire.
• In The Darkest Hour, Darkstripe feeds Sorrelkit deathberries, and she almost dies, but later recovers.
• In Moonrise, several WindClan cats and Dappletail of ThunderClan die after eating rabbits poisoned by Twolegs.
• In Starlight, Mothwing accidentally brings back tainted water to the elders, and they all get a bellyache.
• In Twilight, Dawnflower's kits and some RiverClan cats ingest a foul-smelling liquid that later causes Tumblekit's and Ivytail's deaths.
• In Sunrise, Honeyfern dies after a snake bites her.
• In Cats of the Clans, it is mentioned that Adderkit died after an adder had bitten him.
• In The Forgotten Warrior, Mousewhisker and Cherrypaw almost die from consuming water hemlock, thinking it was parsley.
• In Thunder Rising, Gray Wing develops asthma after inhaling smoke from the forest fire,^[source?] he manages to survive longer than expected, but succumbs to his asthma in Path of Stars.^[source?]

Rat-Borne Infections

• In Rising Storm, Nightstar, Cinderfur, and other ShadowClan cats die from eating rats from the Carrionplace.
• In Midnight, Tawnypelt gets an infected wound after a fight with rats.
• Secrets of the Clans mentions Pebbleheart dying from a rat-borne infection.

Loss of Sensory Perception

• In Bluestar's Prophecy, Whitepaw is blinded in one eye after a fight with a badger.
• In Into the Wild, One-eye is described as being virtually blind and deaf due to old age.
• In Fire and Ice, Brokenstar is blinded by Yellowfang as punishment for his deeds.
• In A Dangerous Path, Snowkit is revealed to be deaf. Although his mother tries to train him to be a warrior, he is taken away by a hawk. Dappletail tells about her own first litter; one of her kits was born deaf, and later it disappeared, thought to be taken by a fox.
• In Firestar's Quest, Longtail is blinded after a rabbit scratches his eyes.
• In Leafpool's Wish, Jaykit is revealed to be blind.
• In Dark River, Rock is mentioned to be blind because of old age.

Joint Aches

• In Forest of Secrets, Smallear's joints are stiff, and Yellowfang says they are the worst case she has seen in moons.
• In Midnight, Speckletail complains of aching joints due to damp weather.
• In The Sight, Mousefur complains of aching joints due to a cold draft.^[source?]
• In The Forgotten Warrior, Sorreltail has stiffness in her hip joints.

Cracked Pads

• In Forest of Secrets, One-eye has cracked pads from the cold.
• In Firestar's Quest, Firestar and Sandstorm get sore pads after walking on rocks.
• In Sunset, Goldenflower complains of cracked pads.
• In Sunrise, Purdy gets cracked pads from cold weather.

Wounds

• In The Darkest Hour, Tigerstar loses all of his nine lives due to a single wound.
• In Eclipse, Squirrelflight gets a belly wound during the great battle.

Joint Dislocation

• In Moonrise, Mousefur gets a dislocated shoulder after fighting Twolegs.
• In Twilight, Rainwhisker's shoulder is dislocated in the fight with the badgers.
• In SkyClan's Destiny, Sagepaw has a dislocated leg after falling off the highest cliff.
• In The Sun Trail, Hawk Swoop has a dislocated shoulder after fleeing from some sheep.^[source?]
• In The Apprentice's Quest, Sparkpaw dislocates her leg after falling out of a tree.

Broken Bones

• In Fire and Ice, Cinderpaw breaks a leg after being hit by a monster.
• In Dark River, Cinderpaw breaks the same leg Cinderpelt did from falling out of the Sky Oak, but later recovers and earns her name in honor of her strength.
• In Fading Echoes, Briarlight's backbone is broken after being crushed by a falling tree, but she survives and earns her warrior name.
• In Fading Echoes, Littlecloud mentions a ShadowClan cat, Wildfur, who also broke his backbone. However, he did not survive, as he got a chest infection.
• In Battles of the Clans and Cloudstar's Journey, Mousefang breaks her leg while fighting Amberclaw by jumping out of a tree.
• In Crookedstar's Promise, Crookedkit breaks his jaw after falling off a rock.
• In The Sun Trail, Jagged Peak breaks a leg after falling out of a tree.
• In Moth Flight's Vision, Wind Runner breaks her leg in battle.^[source?]
• In Darkest Night, Snowbush breaks his leg after a rockslide occurs in the ThunderClan camp. However, he gets an infection from it, and dies afterwards.

Trivia

• Whitecough and greencough are like a cough and pneumonia, respectively.
• Greencough's original name was blackcough. The name was changed before publishing "Into the Wild", as it was thought that the new name reflected the disease better. Vicky stated that the mention of blackcough by Mothwing was an oversight on their part.

See Also

• Medicine