Why the medicine cat code is exaggerated by Birchfeather

Birchfeather shares their opinion of the medicine cat code.

Art by Eviadri

Welcome, cats of BlogClan!
Have you ever questioned the rules medicine cats have to follow? At first, I certainly didn’t. Why would I – it’s a code the clans have been obeying for countless moons. But at some point, I realized that this code may be way too strict and perhaps needs some changes. Here’s why:
First of all, let’s take a closer look at the “laws” I want to discuss in particular:
• A medicine cat must never fall in love or take a mate.
• A medicine cat must never have kits.
• A medicine cat will never let personal feelings in the way of his or her duties.
Now the reason why these “laws” have been introduced is because Mothflight, one cat, I repeat, ONE SINGLE CAT, wasn’t able to cope with medicine cat duties and kits at the same time. How come, everybody thinks that ALL medicine cats are incapable of that??
If only we had examples of cats who show that it does work…Oh wait, there are several cats which illegally had kits and still were great medicine cats!
Let’s just look back and analyse how they did their job:
Leafpool
Her Clan always appreciated and loved her. She acted calmly and reasonably, even when one of her kits were badly injured. For example, when Lionpaw got buried under a collapsed badger den, Leafpool didn’t panic at all. She knew exactly what to do, calmed Jaypaw down and gave him instructions.
Yellowfang
It’s been a while since I last read her super edition, but I can’t think of a time when she ever lost her temper or didn’t know what to do.
Mudfur
He became father before he was a medicine cat, so technically he didn’t really break any codes. Yet his only surviving daughter, Leopardstar, was a leader, so as a parent he could have freaked out due to the fact that leaders are often more exposed to danger than their clanmates. But he was a thoughtful medicine cat and having a kit never interfered with his work.

So, obviously it can be said that all the other medicine cats who had kits easily handled all their duties. It almost seems like Mothwing was an exception. She also was pretty young when her litter was born.
Now you might think, “But what about the clan while a medicine cat is staying in the nursery?” I’ve thought about that too and I’ve come up with the following idea:
“If a medicine cat wants to have kits, there must always be another, fully educated medicine cat available.”
Fights among medicine cats about who’s turn it is to have kits are very unrealistic in my opinion because they usually are the most reasonable and responsible cats in Clan.
It could also be added that in a severe emergency she must leave her kits with another queen in order to help. But I think any medicine cat would do that anyways.
And – “A medicine cat can take a mate only as long as the clan is put in first place.”
But, as before, medicine cats hate it when they can’t help a sick cat, so why would they knowingly let a clanmate suffer?

So, in conclusion, we’ve seen that it is possible and actually quite common that medicine cats can have kits and perfectly do their work at the same time. There would also be a way to make sure at least one medicine cat is always available. Having only one medicine cat is actually pretty much standard in the Clans, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
What do you think about this concept? Do you think the rules should be changed?

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15 comments

  • I think that for the next prophecy should be a medicine cat revolution for the rules. I think it would be an interesting twist.