Diseases and injuries

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

Medicine cats treat it using catmint. An ancient 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 kittencough is mentioned. Runningnose tells about a herb used to cure it, that has disappeared since.

In Moonrise, Mothwing mentions blackcough as a form of chest infection ; however no cat in the series is known to have contracted blackcough.

Poisoning
Poisoning is the ingestion of a substance that causes harm to the body, such as:
 * Eating or drinking poisonous substances or plants. Usually kits do this, being curious and unaware of the danger
 * Eating poisoned or rotten prey
 * Eating crow-food or drinking tainted water
 * Inhaling too much smoke from a fire
 * Being bitten by a venomous animal

If only a small quantity of poison is ingested, the cat mostly receives a bellyache, but larger amounts can cause the death of the cat. Medicine cats treat it with yarrow or nettle leaves, while mild bellyaches are treated with juniper or watermint. In Twilight, three RiverClan kits found a dangerous substance. After drinking it the kits had the whole camp infected. The substance was later revealed to be antifreeze.

Rat-Borne Infections
The cats sometimes fall victims to infections carried by rats, although they do not have a specific name for it. An ancient ShadowClan medicine cat, Pebbleheart, realized that rats were a source of disease. As ShadowClan cats sometimes ate food from the Carrionplace in The Forest, they were prone to catch this disease. Burdock root is used to stop infection from rat bites.

Loss of Sensory Perception
A cat may lose his or her eyesight or hearing due to old age, 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. Kits born with defects usually die young, unless they have special skills compensating it, like in Jayfeather's case. Kits that are white with blue eyes are usually 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.

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.

Chill
Although this condition is mild and is not a disease it has claimed the life of Bluestar's kit, Mosskit and Dustpelt and Ferncloud's kit, Hollykit. It is mostly associated with cold weather. This is a condition where a cat can get so cold its blood stops flowing to regions such as the paws, ears and tail tip. It is much like whitecough, but the cat will have no fever. Kits are more at risk of dying when they get a chill. Licking a cats fur the wrong way gets the blood flowing again. A poultice of lavender, catmint and feverfew is also a good remedy.

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.

Other Diseases
Several other diseases were mentioned in the books, however, the cats do not have names for it. Examples include the conditions of Pebblefur (a painful lump in the stomach, most likely a tumor), or Tawnyspots.

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 cats always fighting enemy Clans, badgers or foxes.

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 with cobwebs, and applying poultices to prevent infection and help it to heal. Herbs used 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.

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 his or her life. The only cat known to fully recover after breaking a leg was Cinderheart.

A more severe injury is when a cat breaks his or her backbone. This results in the cat being unable to feel or move parts of his or her body. If the break is bad enough the cat will be killed on or shortly after impact.

Chest Infections

 * In Fire and Ice, two of Brindleface's kits die and Bluestar loses a life.
 * In A Dangerous Path, Crookedstar loses his last life to greencough.
 * In Sunset, Heavystep supposedly dies from greencough.
 * Between Sunset and The Sight, Molepaw and Boulder die of 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 spiralling 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 cat dies, although Firestar loses a life.
 * Code of the Clans mentions Snowstar, Brightwhisker and Poppydawn dying from greencough
 * Secrets of the Clans mentions Lizardstripe dying of greencough.
 * Bluestar's Prophecy and Secrets of the Clans both reveal Featherwhisker dying of greencough
 * In Battles Of The Clans, Leafstorm dies 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 being fed the deathberries.
 * In Rising Storm, Halftail, Patchpelt, and Yellowfang die after ingesting 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 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 death.
 * 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.

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 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 The Sight, 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 has stiff joints 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

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 in 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.

Broken Bones

 * In Fire and Ice, Cinderpaw (Cinderpelt) breaks a leg after being hit by a monster,
 * In Dark River, Cinderpaw (Cinderheart) breaks a hind leg after falling from a tree, but later recovers as the first and only cat to survive a broken leg.
 * In Fading Echoes, Briarlight's backbone is broken after being crushed by a falling tree, but survives. Littlecloud mentions a ShadowClan cat, Wildfur, who also broke his backbone, however, he did not survive.