Rat

Rats are kit-sized rodents with long bald tails and fur that ranges from gray-brown through black. They are active at night, can swim and climb with great agility, and consume almost anything. Rats often live and travel in packs of a considerable size even though there about the size of mice they can be very deadly.

Description
Rats are small rodents with long bald tails that curve at the tip and fur that ranges from brown/gray to black. They hunt at night and are very fast. They live in packs of a moderate size, and carry strange and deadly diseases. They spread to animals, and humans, causing illness and even death.

Relation to Clan cats
Colonies of rats are usually dangerous to cats, as they are aggressive and tend to attack them. Episodes of rats attacking groups of cats are described in several books. They also carry diseases that can spread to cats, causing severe illness, and sometimes death. For this reason, rats are generally not hunted as fresh-kill.

In the Forest, colonies of rats lived at a trash dump in ShadowClan territory, called the Carrionplace by the cats. The first ShadowClan medicine cat, Pebbleheart, realized that the rats were a source of infection. Raggedstar fought a violent battle with the rats that kept them from bothering ShadowClan for many moons. His deputy, Foxheart, was killed in one of these battles. A single rat contaminated the whole of ShadowClan during Nightstar's brief time being a leader.

SkyClan's Destiny

 * Leafstar, Patchfoot, Ebonyclaw, Frecklepaw, Cora, Shorty, and Snookpaw were going to reset the border markers as they set the markers Patchfoot started heading for the Twolegplace and sudenly stoped and tasted the air and his fur rose. So Leafstar tasted the air for herself and smelled the stench of Rat. They found out that the rats were back and the four cats from the twolegplace hapend to eat rats and knew how to kill them.So they set up a plan attacked the Rats and killed every last one of them in an amazing victory.

Firestar's Quest

 * It is revealed that after the original SkyClan were driven out of the Forest, a colony of rats attacked the gorge where the Clan had set up camp and drove them out. The surviving cats became kittypets, loners or rogues. In the caves, the rats scratched the walls, leaving deep horizontal scores to mark their victory and ownership of the gorge. Firestar at first thought these were from kits.


 * Many moons after the attack, Firestar and his mate Sandstorm came on a quest to rebuild SkyClan. The rats did not like this, and they attacked the cats, but were repelled. SkyClan attacked the warehouse where the rats lived, and Firestar killed their leader, losing a life in the fight. The remaining rats broke up and fled, never to be seen again. The SkyClan warrior, Rainfur, also died in the battle with the rats and another warrior, Shortwhisker got injured by a rat and realized his future as a kittypet as a result.

Bluestar's Prophecy

 * Leopardfoot mentions that Hailstar lost his ninth life to a rat bite.

Crookedstar's Promise

 * When a RiverClan patrol is searching the Twoleg barn for dry grass, a swarm of rats attack them, wounding Sedgecreek, and killing Hailstar.

Into the Wild

 * Bluestar, Firepaw, Graypaw, Tigerclaw and Ravenpaw are attacked by some rats on their way back from the Moonstone. The rats are defeated, but Bluestar loses her seventh life in the fight.

Rising Storm

 * Several ShadowClan cats get sick after they ate diseased rats brought to the fresh-kill pile from the Carrionplace. Nightstar and his deputy Cinderfur die of the sickness.

Midnight

 * The six questing cats are attacked by rats near a trash dump in Big Twolegplace. Tawnypelt gets an infected bite on her shoulder, and limps painfully for most of the time. Her wound eventually heals, after being treated by Midnight, and later by Teller of the Pointed Stones.

In the Power of Three Series
Outcast


 * When six cats traveled to The Tribe of Rushing Water, Tawnypelt, was telling Brambleclaw how she remembered the rat bite she got from visiting Midnight the badger.


 * Later, Lionpaw, Hollypaw, and Breezepaw are exploring and they come across a rat. Lionpaw kills it with a bite to the neck.

Fading Echoes

 * Blossompaw hisses at Ivypaw for scaring off a rat she was hunting during her assessment.