Warrior Cats Guide

This page is made for refrence of Medicine Cat herbs, ceremonies and more! Feel free to add anything if it's left out!

Herbs

Alder Bark: Bark from an alder tree is good for healing toothaches. 

Blackberry Leaves: This herb is good for bee stings. 

Borage Leaves: This herb is used to treat fevers. It also helps nursing queens bring up their milk supply.

Burdock Root:This herb is used to treat infections, and is especially good for rat bites. 

Catmint (also called catnip): This herb is good for treating whitecough and greencough.

Celandine: This herb is used to ease pain. It can also be used to treat injuries of the eyes. 

Chamomile: This herb is used to calm a cat in the case of a nervous breakdown or severe shock. 

Chervile: This herb is used to treat bellyache. 

Chervile Root: This herb is used to keep away and treat infections. 

Chickweed: This herb can be used as another treatment for greencough. 

Coltsfoot: This herb can be used as another treatment for whitecough. It can also be used to ease a sick cat's breathing. 

Comfrey: This herb is used to put broken bone on the right path for mending. 

Daisy Leaves: This herb is used to soothe aching joints. 

Dandelion Leaves: This is another herb used to calm a cat in the event of a nervous breakdown or severe shock. 

Dock Leaves: This herb is used to treat nettle stings. Its juices are also good for soothing sore paw pads. 

Elder Leaves: This herb can be used to help treat sprains. 

Feaverfew: This herb is used to cool feverish cats and treat headaches. 

Goldenrod: This herb is used in poultices to treat aching joints and stiffness. It can also be used to treat severe injuries.

Goosegrass: This herb is used to stop bleeding from a wound. 

Horsetail This herb is used to treat infected wounds. 

Juniper Berries: This is another herb used to treat bellyache. It can also be used to calm a cat in the event of a nervous breakdown or severe shock. 

Lavender: This herb is used to treat coughs and fevers. It can also be used to calm a cat in the event of a nervous breakdwn or severe shock. 

Mallow: This herb is used to fight infection. It can also be used to treat bee or wasp stings. 

Marigold: This herb is used to keep wounds from getting infected. It can also heal sores. 

Nettle Leaves: This herb is used to keep down the swelling of a wound. 

Nettle Seeds: This seed is used to counter the effects of weak poisons. 

Oak Leaves: This herb is used to stop bleeding from a wound and to fight infection. 

Parsley: This herb is used to stop the initial flow of milk in nursing queen. (After kits feed, a queen's milk still flows, and this herb is used to dry it up so it can be saved for later.) 

Poppy Seeds: This seed is used to numb pain and help a cat sleep. Giving a cat more than two seeds may negitivly affect their health, so be careful. 

Ragwort Leaves: This is another herb used to treat aching joints. 

Raspberry Leaves: This herb is used to ease pain during a queen's kitting. 

Snake Root: This herb is used to counter the effects of poison. 

Tansy: This herb is used to treat coughs. It can also be used to heal wounds. 

Thyme: Yet another herb used to calm a cat in the event of a nervous breakdown or severe shock. 

Tormentil: This herb is good for treating wounds and countering the effects of weak poisons.

Traveling Herbs: These herbs are eaten by cats before making long journies, such as ones to the Moontree. They keep away the pangs of hunger and gove a cat strength. 

Watermint: This is another herb used to treat bellyache. 

Yarrow: This herb is used to make a cat vomit. This action expels poisons from the body. 

Non-Herbal Medicine: 

Cobwebs: Cobwebs are used to stop bleeding. 

Honey: Honey is used to treat sore throats. 

Mouse Bile: Mouse bile is used to make ticks release their grip on a cat. 

Wild Garlic: Rolling in this herb can help to keep infection out of wounds. It is also good for rat bites.

Ceremonies

The Apprentice Ceremony

Leader: "[insert kit's name here], from this moment on, you will be known as [insert kit's apprentice name here]."

"[insert the name of warrior who is to mentor the kit here], you are ready to take on an apprentice. You will be mentor to [insert apprentice name here]."

"[insert the name of warrior who is to mentor the kit here], you have shown yourself to be a [insert two qualities of the warrior here (ex. brave, strong, etc.)] warrior. Do all that you can to pass on what you know down to [insert apprentice's name here]."

The Warrior Ceremony

Leader: "I, [insert leader's name here] leader of [insert Clan name here], call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. [He/She] has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn."

"[insert apprentice's name here], do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Apprentice: "I do."

Leader: "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. [insert apprentice's name here], from this moment you will be known as [insert apprentice's new warrior name here]. StarClan honors your [insert two qualities of the warrior here (ex. bravery, strength, etc.)], and we welcome you as a full warrior of [insert Clan name here]."

The Deputy Ceremony

The following words are used if the deputy died in battle:

Leader: "I say these words before the body of [insert name of previous deputy here], so that [his/her] spirit may hear and approve my choice."

"[insert the name of the new deputy here] will be the new deputy of [insert Clan name here]."

The following words are used if the previous deputy was driven from the Clan:

Leader: "I say these words before StarClan, that the spirits of our ancestors may hear and approve my choice."

"The new deputy will be [insert name of new deputy here]."

The Medicine Cat Apprentice Ceremony

Medicine Cat: "Cats of [insert Clan name here], it is time for me to take on an apprentice. Your next medicine cat will be [insert new medicine cat apprentice here]."

Leader: "[insert medicine cat apprentice here], do you accept the post of apprentice to [insert name of medicine cat here]?"

Medicine Cat Apprentice: "I do."

Leader: "Then at the half-moon, you must travel to Mothermouth to be accepted by StarClan before the other medicine cats. The good wishes of all [insert Clan name here] will go with you."

The Medicine Cat Ceremony

Medicine Cat: "I, [insert medicine cat's name here], medicine cat of [insert Clan name here], call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. [He/She] has trained hard to understand the way of a medicine cat, and with your help [he/she] will serve [his/her] Clan for many moons."

"[insert medicine cat apprentice's name here], do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan, and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"

Medicine Cat Apprentice: "I do."

Medicine Cat: "Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your true name as a medicine cat. [insert medicine cat apprentice's name here], from this moment you will be known as [insert medicine cat apprentice's new name here]. StarClan honors your [insert two qualities here].

The Elder Ceremony

Leader: (insert name of retiring cat here), is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go to join the elders?

Retiring Cat: It is.

Leader: Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest.

The following ceremony was sourced from the Warriors Wiki

Pelt Colorations

Calicos and Tortoiseshells

What are tortoiseshells? They're female cats with more than one color gene on their X-chromosomes! They have one color (black, chocolate, or cinnamon), with a red gene on the second chromosome. These colors share dominance, resulting in brindled patterns. They can come in any fur-length, and can even have white on them. The more white that covers their body, the larger the red patches become.

Male tortoiseshells are impossible: in order to be male, all cats must have XY chromosomes instead of the female-specific XX. As the two color traits are recessive and carried only on X-chromosomes, a cat must have two X chromosomes in order for the tortoiseshell gene to be expressed. Therefore, a male must have two X chromosomes which results in a mutation, such as XXY or XXXY. These mutations are insanely rare, and result in the male cats being infertile (unable to reproduce). Besides being infertile, these cats also face severe health problems- lack of muscle development, anatomical issues (such as an inability to roll the feet in while walking), and cognitive issues (late development, speech issues).

So, what's the difference between calicoes and tortoiseshells? Nothing, really! "Calico" is regional slang for a tortoiseshell-and-white cat. Typically, "calico" denotes a tortoiseshell with more than 50% white on their body.

There are multiple different types of torties, following the four main pelt colors. (red, black, chocolate, and cinnamon (listed in order of dominance): red torties aren't a thing (that would just be a ginger cat) but the others exist!) These colors also come in dilute varieties, giving you dilute (or blue) tortoiseshells, lilac tortoiseshells, or fawn tortoiseshells, respectively.

Along with white, the prominence of tabby stripes can vary as well. Typically, these "tabby torties" are called "torbies". All tortoiseshells have stripes, most notably on any ginger regions on the face, but "torbies" may have stripes visible in other regions of the body, and not just on the ginger regions.

Tabbies

Black Tabbies & Black-based Tabbies

Black cat with darker stripes? Black cat with dark brown stripes? Nope. Black-based Tabbies, also known as Black tabbies, are simply gray-brown cats with black stripes. There are multiple patterns and colors of a tabby, but black tabbies are simply cats with black stripes

[1]

Tabby Patterns

There are multiple tabby patterns, the most common being Mackerel tabbies, or your typical tiger cat. 

[2]

Ticked tabby patterns are commonly seen in the abysinnian breed. The cat basically looks like it rolled in some soot, sometimes seen with tabby stripes on their head, legs, and tail.

[3]

Classic tabbies have odd stripes, which seem to be more like a large, swirling pattern on their pelt. Often, this swirling pattern is black, but it is still quite common for this swirling pattern to simply be a darker shade of the base coat color.

[4]

Coming Soon

Limitations

What Cats Cannot Do

In real life, cats cannot/rarely/do not perform the following actions.

• Grinning and/or smiling
• Crying
• Grabbing things with their paws (i.e., picking herbs with their paws).
• Hugging
• Holding hands/paws
• Writing
• Reading

There are scientific and many other reasons of why cats cannot do the following. Many of these gestures are used by people in their fan fictions or role-play. Smiling is commonly used, and although cats cannot smile, this action is performed by many fictional cats. This action is not banned on FCRP. Smiling and grinning will be discussed later, but we would like you to keep a majority of these actions out of the role-play. It makes it unrealistic, and we like to keep things as logical as possible.

Why Do Cats Not Cry?

Humans shed tears because of emotion. When humans cry, they release tears because of sadness, happiness, anger, or any other feeling. This is a unique behavior of ours, and ours only. There have been discussions on animals shedding tears for emotional purposes, but it is not confirmed on whether this is actual emotional crying. As stated in an article about cat's crying, human crying may be a way to invoke a response from others.

Anyway, cats have to have tears. They need to moisturize their eyes and keep them moist, as do we. Cats' eyes water because of "eyes are irritated, or eye irritations, allergies and clogged tear ducts, and for other eye-maintenance reasons," (The Daily Cat).

So yes, cats can cry. But they do not cry for emotional reasons. If you want your cat to express sorrow, they can wail, howl, or keen in distress, much like any other animal.

And it is a bit of a mystery. Do other animals cry because of emotion, as we do?

Source: <http://www.thedailycat.com/behavior/understanding/cat_tears/index.html#.VcouB4tg6PI> (MLA format coming soon).

Body Language and Communication

Tail Signals

This is a list of the tail signals used in the Warriors books. The list is directly taken from the Warriors Wiki and Battles of the Clans, so all credit goes to them.

Tail Held Erect	Stop[2]
Tail Rippling	Move Forward Slowly - With Care[2]
Tail Held Erect and Sweeping Slowly from Side to Side	Retreat Silently[2]
Tail Pointing Low, Parallel to the Ground and Sweeping	Spread Out[2]
Tail Flattened	Get Down[2]
Tail Bobbing	Enemy Sighted[2]
Tail Hooked	Danger[2]
Tail Pointed Sharply	Go That Way[2]
Tail Held Erect and Waving from Side to Side	Stay Behind Me[2]
Tail Kinked over Back	Follow Me[2]
Tail Flicking over Back	Leave, But Be Careful[2]
Tail Tip Facing Other Way	Attack[2]
Kink tail	Attack[3]

The above list is most commonly used in battle. Additional information was sourced from a Wikipedia article about how a tail shows the cat's emotions.

• Cats holding their tail vertically, or upright, is a way of saying that they are happy. They use this gesture as a greeting, usually for others they are close to, or sometimes to their human owners.
• Logically, the cat's tail held at medium height communicates as 'less-than-happy' emotion, and again logically, a low-held tail or one scraping the ground in unhappiness.
• A tail sweeping side to side is relaxation.
• Tail-tip twitching can convery annoyance or irritation.

Olfactory

Cats can communicate through their olfactory senses (or smelling) by using scent. As you may have noticed in the warriors books, cats find a 'scent trail' or smell one another's scent. They have scent glands on numerous places on their body, according to a Wikipedia article on cat communication.

Cats can also use their smelling sense through urine and feces (more crudely, pee and poop). The borders between the Clans? That is a form of urine, feces, and the cats deposit their scent by rubbing themselves against objects. In the real world wild, cats do this to mark their own territory as well.

Types of Behaviour

Aggressive Behaviour

Cats try and make themselves look larger when scared or threatened. It is fine in role-play, but in reality cat's don't have the multi-step thinking process in which they makes themselves look smaller so the enemy underestimates them and dismisses them as weak.

The cats encountering the above emotions will usually raise the fur over their spine. The Wikipedia article states that they turn themselves sideways to appear larger.

Ears become flattened when a cat is aggressive. A direct stare from a cat is a challenge, used by high-ranking cats. A kittypet or domestic cat doing this to an owner is not a good thing. It is a sign of aggression.

Biting, growling, hissing, snarling, and spitting are all aggressive or defensive sounds. Sometimes cats will do these in play, but a cat will never growl in affection, per say. You may have seen a cat and dog standoff in which the cat kind of arches it's spine and hisses. This is aggressive behavior, so when roleplaying cats fighting, this is usually the stance they will assume.

An aggressive stances is, as stated by Wikipedia, "the hind legs stiffen, the rump elevates but the back stays flat, tail hairs are erected, the nose is pushed forward and the ears are pulled back slightly."