Medicine

A medicine cat's main job is to heal their fellow Clanmates. They have many ways of doing so, mostly through herbs and berries.

Alder Bark

 * The bark may be used to treat tooth aches.

Borage Leaves

 * Small plant with pink or blue flowers and hairy leaves. Chewed and eaten by nursing queens for producing better milk. Also treats fevers. Can be easily identified by its star shaped flowers.

Broom

 * Helps treat broken bones and wounds when mixed in a poultice.

Burdock Root

 * Tall stemmed thistle with a sharp smell and dark leaves. When dug up and washed off, it is chewed into a pulp, and put on wounds inflicted by rats to keep them from becoming infected. Can also be used on infected rat bites to lessen and heal the pain.

Catmint/Catnip

 * A leafy and delicious-smelling plant which is rarely found in the wild. Mostly found in Twoleg gardens. Best remedy for the deadly greencough.

Celandine

 * This herb can be used to soothe the eyes.

Chamomile

 * This herb strengthens the heart and calms the mind.

Chervil

 * Sweet smelling plant, which has large leaves, which are almost fern-like. When the leaves are chewed, the juice can be placed on wounds to prevent or heal infection. The roots can be chewed up and eaten to cure bellyache.

Chickweed

 * Like catmint/catnip it can be used to treat greencough.

Cobwebs

 * Put on a wound to soak up and stop (or slow) the bleeding. It may also be used to bind broken bones.

Coltsfoot

 * A flowering, dandelion-like plant with yellow or white flowers. The leaves are chewed into a pulp, and given to cats with difficulty breathing or a cough. It also can be used to treat kitten-cough.

Comfrey

 * Large leaves and small, bell-shaped flowers, which range in color from pink, to white, and purple. Its fat, black-colored roots, when chewed into a poultice, can be used to repair broken bones or to soothe wounds.

Dandelions

 * The white liquid inside the stem is used for bee stings. Also used in mating as lubricant.

Dock

 * Similar to sorrel, the leaves can be chewed up and applied to soothe scratches. To apply, chew it into a pulp, and lick the juice onto the wound, and then spit the remains of the leaf out.

Dried Oak Leaf

 * Most readily available in autumn, the leaves are stored in a dry place, and can stop infection when applied.

Feverfew

 * Small bush with flowers like a daisy. The leaves can be eaten to reduce body temperature, especially cats with fever or chills. Also can heal aches and headaches.

Goldenrod

 * A tall, plant with bright, yellow flowers. When chewed into a poultice, it is good for healing wounds. Also used in mating as lubricant.

Heather Flower

 * Not much is known other than that it can be mixed into poultices to make them sweeter and easier to swallow.

Honey

 * A tasteless (to cats, as mentioned in Eclipse), golden-colored liquid that is made by bees. While difficult to obtain without being stung, it is great for soothing infections, sore throats, or cats who have breathed smoke. Also helps cats swallow other medicine. Can be treats for kits.

Horsetail

 * A tall, bristly-stemmed plant that grows in marshy areas, like ShadowClan territory. The leaves can be chewed into a poultice, and applied to infected wounds to help treat them.

Juniper Berries

 * Juniper berries grow on a bush with dark green, spiky leaves. The berries are purple in color, and can soothe bellyaches, give strength, and help troubled breathing.

Lamb's Ear

 * Commonly found in the mountains, this herb gives a cat strength. This herb was discovered by first the tribe cats and then when the clans were resting in their territory, Stoneteller told Leafpool about this herb.

Lavender

 * A small, purple, flowering plant that cures fever and chills.

Mallow

 * The leaves are best collected at sunhigh, when they are dry. It soothes a cat's belly.

Marigold

 * A low-growing flower that is bright orange or yellow in color. The petals or leaves can be chewed into a pulp and applied to wounds as a poultice to stop infection. It could be used to treat rat bites, but its sometimes not strong enough.

Mouse Bile

 * Extracted from the mouse. The only remedy for ticks, mouse bile is foul smelling, and is stored in moss. When dabbed on a tick, the tick falls off. Smell can be masked by wild garlic, or by washing paws in running water. If accidentally swallowed, can leave a gross taste in mouth for days. Medicine cats always have to remember to wash their paws after using mouse bile.

Nettle Seed

 * Like yarrow, can be used if a cat has swallowed poison.

Parsley

 * Stops a queen from producing milk if her kits die or don't need milk anymore.

Poppy Seeds

 * Small black seeds that are shaken out of a dried poppy flower head. They can put a cat to sleep, or soothe shock and distress, but is not recommended to nursing queens. They are given by wetting the paw, pressing on them, causing them to stick to the paw, and then having the sick or injured cat lick them off. They also help soothe pain.

Ragwort Leaves

 * Crushed and mixed into a poultice with juniper berries, it can help aching joints.

Raspberry Leaves

 * An herb used in kittings, Featherwhisker used it at Leopardfoot's kitting in Bluestar's Prophecy. It could be a painkiller, or to help stop bleeding during the kitting.

Rush

 * This herb is used to bind broken bones. It has long narrow leaves and lavender colored head stalks.

Stinging Nettle

 * The leaves, when applied to a wound, can bring down swelling. The spiny green seeds can be given to a cat who has been poisoned by crowfood, Twoleg waste, or other toxic objects.

Snakeroot

 * The best remedy for poison, especially for snake bites.

Tansy

 * The tansy plant has round, yellow leaves, and a very strong smell, making it good at disguising scent. It is good for curing coughs, but must be given in small doses. The smell is actually very sweet and strong.

Thyme

 * This herb can be eaten to calm nervousness and anxiety.

Traveling Herbs

 * Traveling Herbs consists of sorrel, daisy, chamomile and burnet. Chamomile strengthens hearts, and calms cats. The other herbs are unknown.

Watermint

 * A green, leafy plant found in streams or damp earth. Usually chewed into a pulp and fed to cats with bellyache.

Wild Garlic

 * When rolled in, it can help prevent infection. Especially good for rat bites. Due to its strong smell, it is good at hiding the scent of a certain Clan, and disguising cats on raids.

Willow Bark

 * This bark serves as a painkiller.

Yarrow

 * A flowering plant whose leaves can be made into a poultice, and applied to wounds to extract poison. Also will make a cat retch. This was used on Sorrelkit when Darkstripe fed her deathberries. The ointment of yarrow can also be used to soften and help heal cracked paw pads.

Daisy Leaf

 * Jayfeather brought a daisy leaf to Mousefur to smell, thinking it might be the the mystery herb that Leafpool mixed in with the tansy. Daisy Leaves are thick, dark green, oval shaped leaves. Chewed into a paste, it can help aching joints.

Nightshade

 * Mentioned when Fireheart is with Cloudkit and Cinderpaw and Cloudkit almost eats some deathberries (see below for the later). She jokes that, in response to Cloudkit's call that "maybe it's nightshade this time,". Also known as Deadly Nightshade, this plant is very poisonous, and can kill even the strongest warrior!
 * While the warriors book seem to appear in Britain, Nightshade is also the deadliest plant in North America. It has very small red, very poisonous berries. It is a vine that can grow very tall. Do not mistake with tomatoes.

Deathberries/Yew berries
Main Article: Deathberries
 * First used by Yellowfang to kill Brokentail in the Forest of Secrets, are an extremely poisonous species of red berries, and are known to Twolegs yew berries. The Tribe calls them Night Seeds, when they are used in a plan to kill the mountain lion, Sharptooth, in the book, Moonrise. Also used to tempt the snake that killed Honeyfern in Sunrise. Also nearly killed Sorreltail (as an apprentice, so her name was Sorrelpaw) when Darkstripe fed them to her in "A Dangerous Path".

Holly Berries

 * Holly berries, while not as dangerous as deathberries, are still a danger to kits. They make an appearance in Twilight; when after Leafpool talks to Crowfeather, Sorreltail finds her hiding in a holly bush. Leafpool says she is looking for berries and Sorreltail asks "Aren't they poisonous?".

Foxglove seeds

 * Seeds that bear an unknown amount of poison. Can be mistaken for poppy seeds. Mentioned when Yellowfang says, "You're a dangerous medicine cat! You could kill a cat by confusing Foxglove seeds and Poppy seeds!" Then Yellowfang stalked off leaving Cinderpelt to become shameful.