Have a warrior OC you would like to show being on hormone replacement medication? I’ve gone through herbs historically associated with femininity/masculinity, as well as those with effects on sex hormones, that a wild cat could hypothetically find and use.
Of course, this would still require a bit of a leap as there’s no herb in nature that can replace our friend Spironolactone... but if you’d like some herbs with a grain of truth or history to them that wouldn’t poison a semi-realistic cat? Here you go!
(DO NOT USE THESE HERBS ON YOURSELF OR A REAL ANIMAL.)
Let’s identify what we’re looking for;
Hormone suppressing herbs = antigonadotropins
Prevents production and recognition of present hormones. This is going to be big for an agender transition; but even in a binary one, they’re often taken with-
Hormone producing herbs = estrogen/estradiol & testosterone/androgens
Make sure your warrior doesn’t start on huge amounts! Smaller, controlled doses are more effective. Too much can cause the opposite effects and slow down transition.
Historical precedent = Just Cool
If I find a cool story I’m just going to include it, but note that it doesn’t hold pharmacological basis.
I considered also including some thoughts on surgical treatments as well, but I’ve decided I’ll save that for a follow-up. This guide is purely focused on medication to stay SFW!
Hormone Suppressants
Lycopus (also known as Wolf’s Foot, Water Horehound, Bugleweed) is such a widespread species and has several other medical uses. Not only is it THE most well documented antigonadotropin I came across, but its different species have a wide variety of medical use, including treating anxiety, heart palpitations, stopping bleeding, and respiratory illness. This is also a mint that is not toxic to cats. Also it can be used as a dye.
THERE IS A CAVEAT; if Lycopus supplements suddenly stop or overdosed, it can cause thyroid enlargement. Keep this in mind if your trans warrior ever gave up their medication to a sick clanmate in leafbare!
Lithospermum ruderale (Aka western Stoneseed or Lemonweed) has similar suppression properties, but only in American fanclans, and not as many secondary uses.
Comfrey ROOT can also be used for this purpose, in addition to its canonical uses (funfact this plant is also called knitbone). But can cause liver failure in high doses.
Rosemary suppresses feminine hormones in the uterus, for warriors going from Female to Male. Additionally, it’s an excellent antifungal, smells great, and can be used as a cooking spice.
Molly to Tom (Female to Male)
Pine Pollen (particularly from the Scots Pine), can be added to water or foods and increase testosterone.
Stinging Nettle ROOT could also be taken for a transmasc warrior. The above ground plant can be processed for use with allergies, but the relevant part here is the root underground, which has no stinging hairs.
Sarsparilla ROOT is historically associated with testosterone, though modern studies haven’t held up the claims... but, it is a plant an American clan would have access to, and is also used to make root beer.
Tom to Molly (Male to Female)
FENNEL?? AGAIN??? It’s true.
Through Fennel, all things are possible
It has estrogenic properties in all sexes and has been explored for the creation of synthetic estrogen since the 1930s. This can be used for a transgender warrior, as well as for a cisgender queen with a hormone issue. It must be remarked though; it looks alarmingly similar to poison hemlock, and should not be collected by untrained cats.
Hops (Humulus lupulus) is up next, but first I think this education is worthwhile; phytoestrogens aren’t exactly like true estrogens, but in high enough quantities (as in, much, much more than a plate of soybeans or a mug of beer) they can have estrogen-like affects.
Hops are the uncontested queen of these, and they grow wild in several continents. Hops can sometimes be toxic to cats, based on a genetic predisposition, and mostly to the ‘cone’ (female flower). For the best hormonal effect, the ‘flower‘ (male flower) would be dried and eaten.
Flax flowers don’t contain nearly as much phytoestrogen, but are safer for cats. Additionally, flax is extremely useful in construction, and can be used to make fabric or twine if your Clan is advanced enough.
A quick aside for @kingmystrie who has a stinky Clanmate
[Image ID: sketch of a cat licking its outstretched leg]
For the most part, a healthy warrior can be expected to keep themselves perfectly clean. Cats have special tongues with ridges on them perfectly evolved to keep their coats shiny and healthy.
When a Clan cat is long-furred, sick or elderly, or displaying signs of mental distress, the Clan will give them special attention to keep them clean. This is not just a job for the medicine cat; allo-grooming is a social behavior, close to the heart of a collectivist cat culture.
Herbs only come into play when hygiene becomes a health problem. The two most common issues are Mats and Fleas.
Mats
Time to clear up a common misconception; a mat is not a knot. A mat is what happens when a knot tangles with a bunch of other knots, wrapping up dead skin, dirt, layers of shed fur, and other gross debris into a solid mass. If a mat has formed, there’s been a breakdown in proper care!
When they do form, they are likely to form where the cat has trouble reaching, like the lower back.
Not only are mats filthy, but they can also pose a health hazard by weakening and pulling painfully on the skin below, allowing infection to take root. Mats must be removed as quickly as possible, before they become too large. Taking care of mats can take several painful, time-consuming days.
Oil made from flax seeds can be use to lubricate and loosen them, if the mat is not too large to be a lost cause. Carefully brush with claws, teeth, or a bone comb, if your Clan is capable of simple carving.
The best treatment is to carefully shave the area. A sharpened mussel shell, or a flint or stone blade will do. Take care to not cut the skin below, which could be thin and sensitive from bearing a mat.
Fleas
Aside from ticks which are treated with the infamous canonical mouse bile, fleas are another concern to Clan cats. While they’re only annoying to adult cats, they can sicken elders and kill kittens if they become a camp-wide infestation.
Prevention
Fleas can’t be completely eliminated, but Clans go to great lengths to keep them at bay. Cedar chips are used as den flooring, especially in the nursery, producing a fresh pine smell that insects can’t stand.
Mint can be planted around the camp and rubbed into fur to repel fleas and prevent them from leaping onto a patrolling warrior; but this is kept away from the nursery as mint is extremely poisonous and babies have a bad habit of putting things in their mouths.
Treatment
“barkface what do if flea outbreak bad TIME SENSITIVE“ -Kestrelpaw, desperately texting StarClan
For a VERY bad flea infestation, an herbal bath is an easy but detested solution. A large clay bowl (or, in SkyClan, a stolen birdbath) is filled with water for soaking, vinegar for killing, and a blend of mint and lavender for repellent. From there, the unfortunate warrior is plunged in, usually yowling and crying, and forced to soak for an hour.
Repeat for every. Single. Infested warrior. Even if they are WAILING LIKE BABIES.
They must be prevented from licking clean after this bath. Licking the bathwater off will poison the Warrior from the mint. Since it’s only a repellent, the mint could be optional, but WILL be included if the camp is actively infested... in spite of the soaked warrior’s grumblings.
The number one flea-killer, bar none, the GOLDEN KING of bug eradication, is none other than SALT. In addition to being a seasoning, having as much salt as possible in the medicine cat den is invaluable for controlling flea breakouts. Salt will be added to the herbal bath when it’s available.
In the Forest Territories, there was no salt. In the Lake Territories, collecting salt takes a long journey to the beach, and a patrol capable of carrying it home. As far as the Clans are concerned, salt works miracles so these trips are scheduled visits.
A guide to providing treatment to a Warrior Cat OC with epilepsy. Still requires a bit of a leap in logic as nothing can replace our friend phenobarbital, BUT, if you would like herbs and strategies for managing a Warrior’s epilepsy, this guide is for you.
I researched herbs historically used for epilepsy, chose plants growing wild in a ‘common’ clan biome (temperate Europe and North America), and removed things that a cat could not use. Because of the nature of epilepsy, I also delved into some other treatments and strategies your medics can use!
So, keep in mind, this guide is written for a Clan doctor treating an epileptic cat. NOT from the perspective of a patient who has it.
I would recommend doing extra research into first-hand accounts of what it’s like to live with epilepsy when creating your patient character.
Disclaimer Time! I tried to filter out as much ‘quackery’ as possible, but remember that I am not a vet nor do I have formal training in pharmacognacy. You are also not a vet. This is for fake battle cats. LOOK AT ME. YOU WILL NOT USE THIS ON YOURSELF OR A REAL ANIMAL.
Below the cut is:
What is epilepsy?
Diagnostics
Non-herbal treatments
Managing the different types of seizures
Preventative herbs
What is epilepsy?
‘Epilepsy‘ is the broad term for dozens of different disorders, resulting in recurring epileptic seizures. A warrior could be born with it, develop it over time, or get it after recovering from brain injury (stroke, infection, head trauma, etc).
Epilepsy also varies wildly, and can be so mild it’s hard to detect, or so severe it could put the cat in too much danger to do warrior duties at all. For most cases, however, the warrior would still be able to do normal tasks* as long as they don’t hunt or patrol alone.
* = Head injury and stress from fighting can worsen epilepsy. Going on battle patrols is a risk the warrior must be made aware of.
Diagnostics
So before anything else, your medic will want to identify what triggers the seizures, if anything. There isn’t always an identifiable trigger such as a flashing light/quickly moving object, but seizures can be made worse by stress, lack of sleep, or hunger. Taking note of the warrior’s state preceding a seizure would be extremely helpful for treatment.
Does Wheatwhisker seem to have more seizures when she’s doing certain activities? When she has one, did she sleep well the night before? What has she been eating lately? She may be able to feel it coming-- including sudden intense emotion, an oncoming headache, hot or cold sensations, so on.
Like dogs, cats can detect oncoming seizures. A good medicine cat would take note of all the behavior before its onset to reduce their frequency.
NON-herbal treatments
Once correlation and causes have been identified, the medicine cat should have some lifestyle changes to suggest.
For example, Wheatwhisker has more seizures when she is tired, so the medic prevents her from going on dawn patrol. They’re sometimes triggered by the fluttering of bird wings, so she’s been told to hunt small mammals instead.
A change in diet can also reduce the frequency of seizures. Fatty foods specifically, such as red meat, eggs, and large fish. Trout and carp would be the two easiest* things for a warrior to hunt on a regular basis-- though if the given Clan can’t catch those, it may be worth it to consider trade with another group.
* = If your warriors can cook with fire, fat drippings can be cooked back into the epileptic warrior’s meals. This would make the special diet much easier to prepare than always catching specific prey.
Managing the Different Types of Seizures
Generally there are three types of seizures- ones localized to a specific body part, ones that may seem like “daydreaming”, and ones that cause the well-known convulsions. Less severe seizures are more common.
Seizures do not usually cause pain on their own, except for fatigue in the muscle or headaches. Injury is sometimes caused by external forces, such as slamming against something during a convulsion, falls, tongue biting, or hitting sharp objects.
After any seizure, nausea or a headache may develop-- feverfew will soothe headaches, mallow or fennel will soothe stomachaches. Even if the Epileptic warrior does not take regular medication, the cannabis and valerian root mentioned in the ‘preventative herbs‘ section can be taken on occasion to help the warrior relax post-seizure.
-Localized
One part of the body (leg, head) seizes or convulses. Can usually be self-managed by the warrior, loss of conscious is uncommon. Rest in a quiet area would be the best treatment afterwards. If the muscle fatigue is bad, kneading the limb will help.
-Daydream
The warrior will seem suddenly ‘absent,‘ like they’ve left their body, for typically less than 15 seconds. They may simply wobble and stare ahead (even pausing mid-sentence), or seem to ‘faint‘ and fall over, but in any case they will not remember the seizure. Prevent them from falling on something dangerous, if this seems likely.
In many cases the warrior will just be able to keep going about their day in a few minutes, or even immediately. If not, just like before, let them rest in a quiet area.
-Convulsions
A panicked cat may make convulsions worse by fearfully running around as a seizure starts-- if a warrior MUST be prevented from doing this, it’s VERY important that they are not completely pinned or restrained. JUST kept laying down. Do NOT attempt to stop the convulsions themselves.
Such a circumstance will be extremely rare in a Warrior Cat setting, where the cats are capable of reasoning like a human. There may be a situation where an epileptic cat needs to be brought out of harm’s way-- that’s fine.
Clear the area of anything sharp or hard that the convulsing warrior could hurt themselves on, like stones, or brambles. Roll them onto their side, if they aren’t already. Lastly, cushion their head with something soft, like moss, if possible.
After the seizure is over, the warrior will probably be disoriented and confused. Don’t overwhelm them or offer food or water until they’re fully alert again. Once they do, they might have partial paralysis, nausea, muscle soreness, a bitten tongue, or any variety of symptoms. Just like before, bring them to a quiet area to rest.
If your warriors wear restrictive accessories, such as belts or collars, the medicine cat will remove or loosen them during a seizure if possible.
-what NOT to do
There’s some harmful ideas out there you may have encountered, so here’s some things to keep in mind your medics would NOT do to treat a cat having convulsions:
They would NOT pin them down (this even happened in the books once yikes)
Why: This could cause injury to both the restrained, and the restrainer.
They would NOT put anything in their mouth
Why: Could damage their teeth or jaw, it does not prevent them from biting their tongue. (also; while tongue biting is common, it is a total myth that an epileptic will choke on/swallow it)
They would NOT start firing out questions as soon as the seizure is over
Why: The warrior will likely be disoriented, and not in a state to answer properly. Give them a minute.
Preventative Herbs
Once a seizure is happening, it will have to play out. Warrior cats do not have the medical capability to stop one once started. The anticonvulsant herbs here will help to reduce the frequency and severity of seizures... but they can’t eliminate them entirely.
Anticonvulsants will need to be taken on a regular basis. Stopping these suddenly will cause dangerous side effects; if the warrior’s epilepsy isn’t severe, or herbs are a scarcity for your Clan, it may not be the best choice to medicate them.
Chamomile
Common, and naturalized all over the world. In high doses, this herb will poison a cat. Careful preparation is required to make it safe for the epileptic warrior-- it needs to be steeped in water, like tea*. The leaves should not be eaten.
* = If your cats don’t have fire to brew tea, that’s fine, it can be soaked cold.
This herb also has a side effect of drowsiness. It may make the warrior lethargic and less responsive.
Cannabis
Cannabis is a golden herb for a thousand reasons, it can be made into rope, paper, cloth, oil... but, the thing of note here is CBD oil. Cannabis grows wild all over the world, but ESPECIALLY in North America-based Clans (where it’s called Ditchweed)
Ditchweed has high CBD content, and low THC content. This makes it safe for your warriors (and also prevents them from getting high). Your cats will NOT smoke it, which will damage their sensitive respiratory systems, they will eat it like a standard herb.
Because cannabis is a depressant, this treatment is best for warriors not involved in active tasks. Epileptic warriors that prefer calm, camp-related activities will use this herb. Den-building, tunnel digging, helping the medics, crafting if your Clan makes accessories, so on.
Valerian Root
Known as a sleep aid in humans, Valerian has VERY interesting effects on cats; this is the only Epilepsy treatment that can avoid lethargy entirely. However, in contrast to cannabis, valerian will mostly be found in Europe-based Clans.
(with both, however, it is possible to find each in the other continent.)
Valerian Root has catnip-like effects, perking a warrior up and often filling them with energy. There are some cats for whom this herb will act like cannabis, calming them down, but if there’s a choice, the Epileptic warriors who enjoy active tasks will prefer this herb. Hunting, fighting, patrolling, so on.
Snowbird Ann here: x_x I have Fennel growing in my front yard. That stuff...it tastes like black licorice and it's stringy like celery. But when it goes dormant, it leaves stalks that would be great building materials. Med cat/builders could get a fresh stalk, soak it in water to make it bendy and shape it into whatever. If I remember I'll go out and snap a picture of the dormant Fennel tomorrow.
Fennel is actually suuuuuuuuper useful for dozens of reasons. It's related to parsley and has been naturalized all over the world because humans find it so useful.
The cats could use it for:
-Funerals
This herb can be STINKY. This could absolutely be one of the funeral herbs that elders rub onto the deceased, especially since it's non-toxic.
-Cooking
It's full of fiber meaning it can be a good supplement even for cats, if not consumed in excess. It's also got potassium, manganese, calcium... They can't taste sweet but that licorice-y flavor would come across just fine. It's actually used in sausages a lot.
-Alcohol
If your Warriors drink responsibly. And know how to distill. Mead made from honey would still be easier but fennel was used for health tonics in the middle ages... and then eventually got used to make absinthe.
-Insect repellent
This one's actually huge because the OTHER big bad bug buster is mint... and all mint is toxic to cats. This is a really good non-toxic insect repellent for warriors next to lavender.
-"Toothpaste"
Not like, a PASTE but, a sort of... sticky mouthwash poultice. Fennel's actually super good for oral health, eliminates bad breath, and fights plaque buildup; and remember, Our Friends Mint & Co is toxic to cats. You can make it into an oil and help a warrior with a gum problem. It's especially good at fighting streptococcus, which is one of the most common infectious bacteria in wild cats.
-General medicinal purposes
Helping clean eye infections is just one medicinal use, fennel is useful for all sorts of ailments. It's anti-inflammatory, it's antibacterial (but not as good as honey), can help with digestion...
Historically it's also been associated with helping to treat colic in babies and estrogen-related issues like menopause and milk production, which is actually NOT proven with modern studies... but I think the idea is just cool enough to hand wave the science away, I would use it just to have an herb for colicky kits. It's weird that colic has never shown up in canonical kits before!
But...
Building use?
Probably not. You've noticed it's stringy-- that's actually where fennel gets its name. Fennel = Foenum = Latin for Hay. It's more like hay in consistency than twine and would be too soft to build with.
For strong material, you're just gonna want plain old wood. Twigs, branches, anywhere you can find fennel you're also going to find bushes or trees that'll make better beams.
For twine? Skip the fennel entirely with its short stalks and just get some tall grass. Or, if you've got long-haired cats, they can make yarn out of shed fur if they collect enough of it. Better yet, if you've got access to flax? Then you're REALLY cooking with fire, that bad boy can be made into fabric, rope, clothing... Don't even get me STARTED on industrial hemp, you could weave reality itself out of that popstar. Paper, clothes, canvas, shampoo, lamp oil, rope, bombs, you want it? It's YOURS my friend--
Anyway
TL;DR stick to the herbal uses for fennel. You're better letting dormant fennel re-grow because it's better in the paws of your medcats than your warriors.
Hi bones! i'm not sure if you've answered these questions already, but, do you know any herbs/treatments for arthritis that cats could use? (preferrably located near eastern europe/the balkans since thats where my fanclans are set) One of my main guys has it and i want to do it correctly!
Haven't made a guide to joint pain yet, but the quick answer;
FEVERFEW reduces all inflammation, suitable for arthritis and any other pain from swelling. It is native to the Balkans but naturalized pretty much everywhere.
HOT OR COLD sensation depending on the type of arthritis your warrior has can be soothing. Remember that materials can be kept cold year round underground in cold climates, or at the bottom of a lake.
MEDICINAL LEECHES (hirudo medicinalis) is legendary for joint pain because of an anti-inflammatory chemical in their bites, and can be found as far east as Ukraine. But they are rare because of environmental destruction.
Because Clan cats don't have the range of motion to "brush" their teeth, what they do is find a small twig from either a Silver Birch or a young Willow and chew the end off.
After chewed, they 'brush' their teeth with the bristles, shifting it in their paws to cover the whole mouth. When a cat has a dental problem, they dip the frayed end in a Fennel poultice like a paste.
For Clans that have spare flax on hand, it is also possible to have the teeth wiped by a salty or sooty linen rag. But chewsticks are very, very easy to make and use, and not every cat can have their own rag due to how intensive flax processing is.
Are these effects based on human or cat studies? (Not to split hairs, I'm just curious)
@emeraldwhale (question on my Warrior Cats HRT herb guide)
Human studies! Victoria Holmes revealed she uses Culpeper's Herbal Remedies to find herbs for the cats, so I used my own human-based book to sort through herbs. I had to use one more modern though, and because there’s no “Transgender Herb“ in nature I sorted through the ones that had similar effects to how actual HRT medicine works (hormone suppression and hormone producing)
My main references were The Review of Natural Products 2004 By Ara DerMarderosian, John A. Beutler to find the herbs, and I compared them to the explanations of how HRT medicine works in this video by Aria Bennett and these articles on Drugs.com (which have been archived and are no longer backed by the site, though Drugs.com is credible)
Once I found an herb in The Review of Natural Products that was a candidate, I followed the references to the linked relevant studies for a quick check, and also to pick up any other herbs mentioned to have similar effects in it (this is how I found stoneseed). THEN I looked into where it’s found in nature to see if it could be used by a “standard” clan, assuming the cats live in a temperate, seasonal forest like those found in central Europe and northeastern North America (saw palmetto, for example, would have made an excellent HRT herb but is only found in the southeastern US so it was eliminated)
Lastly, I then checked to see if the cats would be able to eat it. The absolute best herb I could find for MTF by all metrics was white peony root-- that had to get axed because it’s deadly to cats. Licorice root was also eliminated by that process as well.
There are some bizarre little quirks though, because the Erins obviously are not as thorough about their research as I am. My HRT guide contains comfrey root with a big warning-- because comfrey is actually a herb I would have eliminated if it wasn’t canonically used! It’s deadly to humans as well as cats! Being on it as often as the cats are would cause liver failure in a grown human, let alone a cat with their puny organs.
There’s better veterinary sources available for normal ailments, like eye infections and scratches, but because of the nature of HRT I had to get really creative in finding these herbs. I don’t do this much research with my other herb guides lmao, but I wanted this one to really slap because I felt like it would be really helpful and mean a lot to people!
