Moth Flight’s Rule and Why It’s Unnecessary by Shadowsong

Shadowsong argues the rule preventing medicine cats from having kits is unnecessary

So, you know Moth Flight? She is the one that made the rule that “no medicine cat can take a mate or have kits” and gives up her four kits in favour of focusing on being a medicine cat. This rule has been broken quite a few times. There are several controversies about this, and I am going to explain this piece of code, and why I think it is pointless.

Moth Flight made this rule because she believed that the lack of a mate and kits would allow medicine cats to focus on their duty to the Clan. And something that probably still keeps the rule standing is that given the choice between one of their children and any given cat, the medicine cat would favour their kit, even if the other cat was more injured.

Before I get into the rest of the topic, I would like to talk about the medicine cat Mudfur. After he lost his mate he opted to become a medicine cat. However, he had a living daughter, Leopardkit. According to Moth Flight’s rule, he should not have been able to become a medicine cat, because it’s forbidden to take a mate OR have kits, but he was allowed to do so anyway.

Probably the most famous breaking of the code was by Leafpool, who was mates with Crowfeather. Spottedleaf told her to follow her heart, to which she responded by running away with Crowfeather. They eventually had kits together (unbeknownst to Crowfeather). After Leafpool and Squirrelflight’s death, they had a trial for breaking the code. The trial led to an argument between Yellowfang and Moth Flight herself, Yellowfang questioning the fairness of the rule and pointing out that “Leafpool sacrificed everything she loved to be a loyal medicine cat to her Clan. Can we ask more than that?” Yellowfang’s argument was convincing and the sisters were sent to StarClan.

So there’s the argument that a medicine cat shouldn’t have a mate and kits, because then that would distract them from their duties. Well, let’s go back to Leafpool. She and Squirrelflight devised a plan in which Squirrelflight would keep the children so that the secret could remain hidden, and thus the kits had a mother that could watch over them, even if their real mother was working, and so no problems arose (until Squirrelflight’s revelation). So, if there is some way to watch over the kits while also still working to heal the Clan, for example, having an apprentice or asking a queen to take care of them, then there shouldn’t be any problems.

And now there’s the argument that medicine cats would favour their children over other cats. Can the same thing not be said about other members of their family siblings? Leafpool and Squirrelflight had the “special sister bond” in the second arc that made them inseparable. And still, they were together till the end afterwards. There is no doubt that Leafpool would have more care for Squirrelflight during treatment, and she had no power over having a sister.

So in conclusion, I believe that Moth Flight’s rule is not necessarily helpful, but that it’s pointless. The same downfalls that the rule tried to prevent can still happen, and medicine cats can still do their duties even with a mate and kits, so it doesn’t make sense to bar medicine cats from something that is otherwise normal. Thank you for taking the time to read this article!