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Last Updated: 08.18.2024

→ Alder Bark: Dark gray bark to brownish-gray, fissured with glossy. Young trees have light gray to greenish-gray bark. Branches can sometimes be sticky. When chewed; eases toothaches.

→ Blackberry leaves: Plant itself carries pinkish-white flowers, each flower has five petals and produces one fruit crop a year. Grows in wooded, sunny areas. The leaves carry a sharp scent. Can be mixed into a poultice to ease the pain of bee stings.

→ Borage Leaves: Purple flowers with soft, dark green leaves. Has a distinguished smell. The best leaves are typically halfway up the stem, and has a zesty scent to them. Bitter tasting. Great for nursing queens as it helps increase their supply of milk. Also brings down fever. Helps soothe bad bellies and relieves tight chests.

→ Bright-eye (phlox): Light pink petals with darker pink in the middles. Smooth green leaves. Grows in wooded areas and thickets, particularly in sunlight. Crushed into a poultice mixture. Mix with lovage to help cure coughs.

→ Broom: Shrubs with small leaves and small yellow flowers. Flowers are often solitary, but can also come in pairs. Can be found even in leaf-bare. Used in poultices that can help broken legs and wounds.

→ Burdock Root: A tall-stemmed, sharp-smelling thistle with dark leaves. A medicine cat must dig up the roots, wash off the dirt, and chew them in to a pulp, which can be applied to rat bites, even helping if it becomes infected. Can give cats a bellyache if they eat too much of it. Numbs rat bite to the point a cat cannot feel the pain. Also good for infected paws and other sores, including burns.

→ Burnet: Medium green-colored basal leaves. Can occasionally have spikes of purple flowers. A traveling herb. The leaves are swallowed. Used to give strength, and good for expecting queens.

→ Catmint/Catnip: A delicious-smelling, plan with gray-green leaves; stem is hairy, and has pale purple flowers. Is easily killed by frost. Looks like nettles, but doesn't sting. Rarer to find, usually only found in small clumps. Best remedy for the deadly greencough, which cats - mainly kits and elders - usually catch in the season of leaf-bare. Can also be used for whitecough. Can be considered dangerous in extremely high dosages.

→ Celandine: A green plant that produces yellow flowers in Newleaf. Hairy leaves and stems. Used to treat pain, or crushed into juice and trickled into the eye to soothe eye pain or weakened eyes.

→ Chamomile: A daisy-like looking plant that is used for calming in the event of a nervous breakdown or severe shock. Strengthens the heart and soothes the mind. Also given to traveling cats for strength.

→ Chervil: A sweet-smelling plant with large, spreading, fernlike leaves and small white flowers. The juice of the leaves can be used for infected wounds, and chewing the roots help with bellyache caused by nausea. Can be used during kitting. The roots are more potent than the leaves.

→ Chickweed: Tall, sprawling-stemmed plant with fat, almond-shaped leaves. Treats greencough, though catmint is often preferred. It may also have anti-inflammatory, pain-reducing effects.

→ Cobweb: Spiderwebs can be found all over the forest; be careful not to bring along the spider when you take the web! Sticky mesh to soak up and stop, or slow, the bleeding by pressing them over the wound. Used to bind broken bones, and to fasten poultices to fur.

→ Coltsfoot: A flowering plant, a bit like a dandelion, with yellow or white flowers. The leaves can be chewed in to a pulp, which is eaten to help shortness of breath. Can also help ease kitten-cough or whitecough.

→ Comfrey: Identifiable by its large leaves and small bell-shaped flowers, which can be pink, white, or purple. The fat black roots of this plant can be chewed into a poultice to mend broken bones or soothe wounds and burns. Paws can also be wrapped in the leaves. Can be used to help with itching or for inflammation on stiff or wrenched joints. Also eases stiffness on muscles when lined in a nest.

→ Daisy Leaves: Dark green, oval shaped leaves with a hairy stem and a bitter taste. It can be found readily in forested areas, and also in mountains. Chewed into a paste. Eases the pain of aching joints, such as back pain. It is also a traveling herb.

→ Dandelion: Common yellow-flowered plant with long, hollow stems. After flowering is finished, the flower transforms into fluffy seed heads that are dispersed by the wind. Its leaves can be chewed to help feverish cats sleep and reduce their fever, and to act like a painkiller. The roots can also be used to help cure the effects of meadow saffron poisoning.

→ Deathberries: Also known as yew. Bright scarlet berries from the dark-leaved, poisonous yew bush. A bitter, tangy, overwhelming scent. Grows in the mountains and near water sources. Kills a cat within minutes when consumed. Can be used on extremely ill cats to prevent a lingering death. However, if the flesh of the berry is used, with the seed carefully removed, it can cure an infection without death.

→ Dock: A plant similar to sorrel. Common, dark green, soft, large-leafed plant with a tangy smell and taste. The leaf can be chewed up and applied to soothe scratches, though can sting when being applied. Also can be put in one's nest during sleep. Soothes sore pads. Can be used to help practice healing on Clanmates, and to wrap herbs or injured paws.

→ Dried Oak Leaf: Collected in leaf-fall and stored in a dry place. Dried leaves can be used as a platform to mix salve. Can be chewed to prevent infection, but must be switched to marigold once an infection has set in.

→ Elder Leaf: Leaves from the elder bush. Has a clean tang. Turned into a poultice. Soothes sprains and wrenched muscles.

→ Fennel: Thin, spiky leaves with tiny yellow flowers. Can be found in numerous places, especially on dry soils near the sea/coast and on riverbanks. Stalks are broken and juice is squeezed into the receiver's mouth. Helps pain in the hips.

→ Fly Agaric Mushroom: Red toadstool with white spots and a white stem. Poisonous. Symptoms can include vomiting, lethargy, confusion, and excitability.

→ Funeral Bell Mushroom: Brown mushroom cap with white stem. Poisonous. Symptoms can include vomiting, hypothermia, liver damage, and eventual death.

→ Goldenrod: A tall plant with bright yellow flowers. A poultice of this is terrific for cleaning and healing wounds.

→ Hawkweed: Small, coarse, rough green plant with yellow and orange flowers. Has hairy green elliptical leaves. Like catmint but not as strong.

→ Heather: From the heather plant. Flowers mixed in herbal mixtures. The nectar makes swallowing easier and sweetens mixtures. Heather blossoms are used to treat aching joints.

→ Holly: A prickly bush with dark green, spiny leaves that produces poisonous berries. No medicinal value.

→ Honey: A sweet, golden liquid created by bees. Difficult to collect without getting stung. Eaten or given by moss soaked in it. Soothes infections. A great remedy for smoke-damaged or sore throats, coughing, helping cats swallow other concoctions, and gives energy. Draws poison from wounds, such as bee stings. Good for binding poultices together. Must be wrapped tightly with leaves to prevent it from spilling.

→ Horsetail: A tall plant with bristly stems that grows in marshy areas. Has a clean smell, and a bitter sap. Chewed to a poultice and applied to wounds. Treats infections and stops bleeding for minor wounds. Stings when applied.

→ Juniper Berries: Purple-blue berries from the dark green, spiky-leaved juniper bush. Loses potency when they're shrivelled up. Has a pungent smell. Grows in dry places, and can be found in leaf-bare. Soothes bellyaches, helps with coughs, gives strength, and helps troubled breathing. It is also used to help calm cats. Can be mixed with ragwort or daisy leaves to treat aching joints.

→ Lamb's Ear: Soft plant with fuzzy silver-green leaves. Commonly found in the mountains. Gives a cat strength.

→ Laurel Leaf: A dense, low-growing bush with smooth leaves. Used for herb wraps, such as providing honey to patients.

→ Lovage: Tall green plant with leaves resembling parsley. Bright yellow flowers. Found in partially shady to full sun areas. Uncommon. If it is mixed with bright-eye, it can help cure coughs. Can be partially toxic.

→ Lungwort: Dark green leaves speckled with gray. Cures yellowcough.

→ Mallow: Large fuzzy leaves with a sweet scent. Has a bitter taste. Grows best near water and best collected at sunhigh when they are dry. Roots and leaves are collected. Soothes bellyache and an option for treating coughs when tansy is limited.

→ Marigold: A flowering plant with yellow-bright orange petals. Stems are bright green with a strong and sweet scent or smells like sour nettles. Has a strong taste. Found near water and bright sunny areas. Petals, leaves, or stems can be chewed into a poultice. Juice can be used as well. Stops infection and bleeding for minor wounds. Used for inflammation of stiff joints.

→ Moss: A spongy, soft green shrub. Abundant in forests and marshy locations. Apprentices collect fresh moss for the medicine cats. Used for bedding for sick cats. Used to soak up fluid, such as mouse bile, honey, or water for ill cats. Soaked moss can be used to apply pressure to stop/slow bleeding.

→ Mouse Bile: A bad-smelling liquid that is the only remedy for ticks. Dab a little moss soaked in bile on a tick and it'll fall right off. Wash paws thoroughly in running water afterward.

→ Nightshade: A small shrub with faintly scented, bell-shaped flowers that are purple tinged with green in color. Berries are shiny and black when ripe. Poisonous. No medicinal value.

→ Pacific Sanicle: A herb with a thick stem, and teethed leaves. It also has tiny, curving, yellow petals on the flowers that grow on it. Also known as Snakeroot. A herb that can be used by being ground into a poultice to draw out poisons (such as from a snake bite). May also be used to help with cramps.

→ Parsley: A long-stemmed plant with ragged-edged crinkly leaves. Has a sharp scent and tastes cold and fresh. Stops a queen from producing milk if her kits die, she doesn’t need milk anymore, or she is producing too much milk. Also used to cure bellyache.

→ Poppy Seed: Tiny, round black seeds that are shaken out of a dried poppy flowerhead. Can be found all over forested areas. Can help a cat sleep, soothe shock or distress, or ease pain. Not recommended for nursing queens or in large, prolonged doses.

→ Ragwort Leaves: Tall shrub with yellow flowers, foul-tasting. Crushed and chewed with juniper berries, it can help aching joints. It can also keep a cat's strength up.

→ Sedge: Tall, thick green leaves with tiny green flowers. Has a thick, white root. Also known as sweet flag. Grows all through leaf-bare. Most common around rivers and other areas with water. The roots can ease infection.

→ Sorrel: Similar to daisy, burnet, and chamomile, sorrel is used as a traveling herb. It is also a traveling herb. Can also build up appetite and quench thirst.

→ Sticks: Thin wooden protrusions that grow on and fall from trees. Can be found anywhere there are trees, or bushes. Used to straighten broken limbs to heal. Recommended for queens giving birth by distracting them from pain. Can be used to carry moss soaked with mouse bile.

→ Stinging Nettle: Large stalks with green, spiny seeds. Grows in patches with stinging barbs. Can be found near lakes, rivers and forested areas. The leaves must be soaked in water first to remove their sting. The seeds can be chewed to expel poison. The stems and leaves can also be chewed to help with infection, wounds, and decrease swelling. Can be mixed with comfrey to help heal broken bones and sprains.

→ Tansy: Small, feathery, pointy, curly dark green leaves and round, yellow flowers. Has a very sweet and strong scent, making it good for disguising a cat's scent. Tastes bitter. Can be found in the mountains. Stems are chewed. Cures coughs and soothes throats. Can be used to treat some wounds. Stops cats from getting greencough. Can be extremely dangerous to pregnant cats.

→ Treesap: The sap is gathered from the bark near the top, and it has a strong smell like pine, but sweeter. Used to treat coughs when catmint doesn't work.

→ Thyme: Small green leaves with a woody stem. Has a pungent scent. Leaves can be chewed on to calming anxiety and cats who are in shock. Can also calm cats who breathe their scent in. Difficult to find in the rainforest areas.

→ Valerian: A tall stalk bearing opposite leaves with coarsely toothed leaflets, and a rounded clusters of small, tubular, aromatic flowers. The flowers are generally white but may have a pinkish tinge. Found in subalpine meadows. Used to ease insomnia, anxiety, and nervous restlessness.

→ Water Hemlock: Green or white flowers with petals in umbrella-shaped clusters. Has tall stalks with serrated green leaves. Grows in wet, marshy areas. Causes writhing, pain, and foaming at the mouth.

→ Webcap Mushrooms: Vibrant brown or violet mushrooms. Poisonous. Symptoms present as the common cold, but will eventually kill the cat who ate it within a day to 2 weeks

→ Wild Garlic: Extremely sharp and tangy scent. Grows in patches, and has dark green leaves. One must roll in it. Draws out poison in rat bites to prevent infection.

→ Yarrow: A flowering plant with green, jagged leaves, a tangy scent and a bitter taste. Soft leaves. Grows in the mountains and by sources of water. Yarrow is very valuable for healing properties. When its leaves are ingested, it induces vomiting to expel toxins. Reduces body temperature for cats with fever or chills. It can be used as a disinfectant for wounds. Also heals aches and pains, especially good for headaches. A poultice with yarrow in it will soften and help heal cracked pads.

→ Aching Joints: A common ailment that is often caused by age, cold weather, or damp nests. Common symptoms include aches and pains in the joints, stiffness, and sometimes even inflammation or swelling. Can be treated with burdock root, daisy leaves, nettle leaves and goldenrod.

→ Aches and Pains: Can often be caused by over exertions. Common symptoms may be soreness, stiffness or reluctance to do regular tasks. Can be treated with poppy seeds and or bed rest.

→ Bee Sting: Remove the bee stingers (if stung by bee, not wasp) as gingerly as possible without squeezing the venom sack. To help treat and relieve pain give nettle leaves, poppy seeds, dandelion stems and alder bark.

→ Blackcough: This illness is fatal and has a high chance of the cat not surviving it. Whitecough or Greencough can advance to this if not treated prompty. You can try to treat it, but treatment is all but futile in later stages of the sickness. Symptoms include severe wheezing, severe coughing, phlegm streaming from nose, pus or blood expelled somewhere and some way on/out of the body, sweating, high fever, and weakness/lethargy. Treatments in early stages include yarrow, valerian and catnip.

→ Broken Bones: An injury usually caused due to trauma, falling from a large height, or a severe battle injury. Symptoms include swelling in the area of the break, pain, resistance to walk/run/move or perform usual duties. The best treatment for broken bones is to put the bone back in place then use the following herbs: poppy seeds, broom and horsetail. Apply a splint after with sticks and cobwebs if possible. Bed rest until healed.

→ Chills: Chills are mostly associated with cold weather or being submerged in cold water for a long period of time. Although usually mild, 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. Yarrow is a good remedy.

→ Common Cough: An irritation of the throat/lungs. Most commonly caused by illness, and usually in leafbare. To treat, administer honey (for dry throat) and tansy.

→ Cracked Paws: This is a condition caused when paw pads have grown hard or too tender, causing the pads to crack and bleed. This mostly commonly affects elders, but can happen at any age. If not treated swiftly, infection can kick in. The best treatment is goldenrod juice, yarrow poultice, garlic and cobwebs.

→ Cuts and lacerations: Very common, this can happen in many situations including training, battle, and accidents. Best treatment would be to use marigold or garlic after rubbing it down with a dock leaf. You can also use yarrow to disinfect the wound. Cover with cobwebs.

→ Fever and headache: 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. Symptoms can include pain, can't stand sounds or light, sweating, hot to the touch, dizzy. To treat provide plenty of water, or use yarrow, nettle leaves, or poppy seeds.

→ Greencough: This illness is a progression of whitecough, and can turn into blackcough if not treated quickly. It is similar to pneumonia for the twolegs. Very contagious; cats with this must be separated from the other cats. Normally caught during freezing conditions. Symptoms include sluggishness, fever, wheezing, and phlegm streaming from nose and mouth. Treatments include yarrow, valerian catnip, chickweed, and
coltsfoot.

→ Hypothermia: This condition is most common in leaf-bare, but it can happen at any time. This illness is caused most commonly when a cat is soaking wet and stays in the cold too long. It can happen when the body struggles to keep a steady temperature. There are 4 stages: impending, mild, moderate, and severe. Symptoms of hypothermia include sluggishness, drowsiness, fatigue, stumbling, thickening of speech, amnesia, irrationality, hallucinations, lack of perception, blueness in skin, enlargement of pupils, decrease in
heart and respiration rates, state of near unconsciousness, insensibility, shivering, poor coordination. More severe symptoms that can be an indication of worsening condition are: poor speech, disorientation, decrease in shivering followed by rigidity of muscles, blueness of skin, weak or irragular pulse. The best treatment is to get the cat's body warm at all costs but be careful not to do it too fast. Keep the victim out of the wind and cold and place in a pre-warmed nest and have other cats sleep around him/her to give warmth.

→ Infection: This happens when a wound has been left untreated. Once infection sets into a wound, it is considered more serious as it can turn fatal if not treated correctly. Wounds should be treated immediately for best chance of survival, and disinfected to reduce chance of infection. Symptoms of infection include bad stench, pus, pain, raw or tender skin, and fever if the infection is severe enough. The best herbs for treating infection are horsetail, chervil leaf juice, burdock root and marigold.

→ Insomnia: Cats can suffer from insomnia when they are stressed, over-worked, having nightmares, are very depressed, or very ill. The best treatments for insomnia are valerian, poppy seeds, or chervil root.

→ Kittencough: An illness that effects the respiratory system that only kittens get. Symptoms are similar to that of Whitecough. Kittencough is best treated with coltsfoot, garlic, yarrow and nettle. Honey for sore throat.

→ Poisoning: Some poisons are able to be reversed before it becomes lethal, but beware, not all poison is created equally. This can be caused by ingesting a poisonous plant/mushroom, or by being bitten by a venomous snake. Cats need treatment immediately, definitely a life or death situation. Symptoms of poisoning may include: dizziness, aches, pains, headaches, fever, sweating, loss of consciousnesses. The best treatments for poisoning is snakeroot or yarrow.

→ Rashes: A rash can happen for a variety of reasons, such as when a cat has scratched too much, due to an allergy, or even too hot (heat rash). Symtpoms include red, tender area of skin/pelt. Rashes are best treated with nettle leaves, poppy seeds, goldenrod juice, and burdock root.

→ Respiratory/Breathing Issues: When a cat has trouble breathing this can be life threatening. Their breathing becomes rapid and unsteady. This can also be caused by allergies and kitting. Symtpoms may include rapid and unsteady breath, or wheezing. It is best to give coltsfoot and/or juniper berries. For kitting queens give coltsfoot instead.

→ Shock: Shock can happen when a cat has been badly injured, has a phobia, or witnessed a stressful or frightening sight. For this the victim must take extra caution not to do more damage if the cat is injured. Some signs of shock are that they'll be unresponsive or very jumpy or timid. Fear-scent may be able to be detected. May have a weak or rapid pulse, or breathing pattern. Could be cold to the touch. The best treatment for shock is valerian, thyme leaves, or tansy.

→ Sprains/Twisted limbs: Sprains or twists can be caused by accidental injury (trip, fall, etc.) or too much stress or strain on the joints. This injury is very minor. Symptoms include swelling, painful to touch and move affected area, can't put pressure on it. The best treatment is rest, and to stay off the injury. If the affected cat is in pain, apply nettle leaves and give poppy seeds.

→ Sore throat: A tender or raw, sore throat can be caused by a number of things. The most common being illness, allergies, or breathing in smoke from a fire. This illness is very mild. The throat will be a bit
swollen or red and will be ether dry, itchy, sore, or painful. Give the affected cat honey, and if they breathed in smoke, give coltsfoot or juniper berries too.

→ Ticks/fleas: Applying mousebile dipped on a ball of moss to a tick will make it fall off. Could also use herbs to help with itchiness, such as nettle leaves, poppy seeds, goldenrod juice, and burdock root. Marigold is supposed to help prevent ticks.

→ Whitecough: Very similar to the flu and kittencough, a common ailment. It can, however, turn into more serious conditions such as greencough or the fatal blackcough if left untreated. Symptoms include sneezing, coughing, runny nose, fatigue, and have a slight fever. Whitecough is best treated with catnip, yarrow, chickweed, coltsfoot, honey, poppy seeds, water, and finally bed rest.

→ Gently nipping a cat's spine of poking it hard with a claw tests to see if the backbone is broken. If the subject does not feel the nip or poke, the the spine is broken. Many times a medicine cat will have to poke/nip the subject multiple times in different places to find the break.

→ Licking a cat's fur can help clean wounds, comfort/calm down a shocked or grieving cat, and warm a cat who had become cold. (Lick the cat's fur the wrong way to do this. The last method is most often used on kits).

→ Soaking moss in water and holding the drilling moss before a stock, injured or weak cat makes it easier for them to drink. Soaked moss and also be used to cool feverish cats.

→ Rosemary or mint can be used to lighten the death-scent of a dead cat before burial.

→ Using nectar, honey of mouse blood can make herbs sweeter and more appealing to cats--therefore making it easier to take the medicine.

→ Holding a swelling wound in cold water takes down swelling. Cats can also soothe scraped pads by soaking them in water.

→ A cat with weak or hurting muscles/bones can take part in water therapy. Have them wade in water that is not too deep or shallow, and eventually they'll get stronger.

→ Having a sick cat wail or yowl keeps their lungs and chest clear of mucus.