Age Gaps and Related Mates by Icepaw

Icepaw lists relationships that have age gaps and mates who are related to each other.

Hi! This is an article about mates that are related (relatively close) and mates with age gaps. I hope you enjoy!

Age Gaps:

Blossomfall and Thornclaw: Now, I must point out that the only single tom in her age range was her own brother, and as much as I love BlossomIvy we know how Harper Colins censors the books so that was never an option. All the other eligible toms were far younger (like Fernsong) or older (like Thornclaw). And OBVIOUSLY WE CANT have a she-cat who doesn’t have a mate and kits. Not counting medicine cats, she-cats who died tragically young, and characters with little to no booktime, the only she-cat who didn’t have a mate and kits nor expressed a regret over not having them was Mousefur. So it’s understandable why Blossomfall ended up with Thornclaw, even if you may think it’s bad.

Leapordfoot and Pinestar: The novella Pinestar’s Choice reveals that Pinestar is born at the start of 16 YBF (years before Firestar.) Fast forward just a little bit, you will find that Leopardfoot and her brother Patchfoot were born near the end of 7 YBF, during Bluestar’s Prophecy
The age gap between them is almost TEN YEARS

Let’s quickly put that in perspective before moving on. This is a much greater amount of time than the infamously despised gap between Thornclaw and Blossomfall, which are “only” roughly 6 years, along with Spottedleaf and Firestar, which are 5 years. Many cats don’t even survive to be that old. Warriors typically retire around the age of 8. For instance, Mousefur passes away at the age of 12. Firestar lives to be only 8. Can we agree that Pinestar will be old enough to be an elder by the time Leopardfoot is born? And according to Goosefeather’s Curse, Pinestar was already deputy when Leopardfoot’s parents (Swiftbreeze and Adderfang) were apprentices. PINESTAR IS LITERRALY OLDER THAN HER PARENTS!!! I don’t have any reason for this age gap.

Okay, now I’m going to talk about mates who are related. There are some really gross pairings in this.

Cinderheart and Lionblaze: Swiftbreeze and Adderfang are Lionblaze’s great-great-great grandparents .  They are also the great-grandparents of Cinderheart. This is  because Leafpool, whose mother was Sandstorm; whose father was Redtail; whose parents were Adderfang and Swiftbreeze, is the mother of Lionblaze. And Cinderheart’s mother was Sorreltail; whose mother was Willowpelt; whose parents were Adderfang and Swiftbreeze.  Because of this, Cinderheart and Leafpool are officially second cousins, making Cinderheart sort of an aunt to Lionblaze?

Ferncloud and Dustpelt: This one is pretty simple. Ferncloud’s uncle is DUSTPELT. So basically, Brindleface was the mother of Ferncloud, and Fuzzypelt and Robinwing who are Brindleface’s parents, had a second litter with Dustpelt. So, Dustpelt is Brindleface’s brother and so then Ferncloud’s uncle

Snowbush and Lilyheart: These 2 are just direct cousins. Snowbush’s mother (Brightheart) and Lilyheart’s father (Brackenfur) were siblings. That means that Snowbush and Lilyheart are COUSINS!

Okay now the worst one. You probably heard of this. Patchpelt and Willowpelt: THEY ARE LITERALLY SIBLINGS. So the Erins have confirmed that they are Graystripe’s parents, so they must have been mates at some point. They were both born to Swiftbreeze and Adderfang in different litters. So they’re siblings. And mates. I don’t have more to say about this. Pretty much explains itself.
(Mod note: This fact actually isn’t canon anymore! Patchpelt has since been removed as Graystripe’s father, leaving Willowpelt as his only known parent. This was revealed on the official family tree on the Warrior Cats site, which is considered a trustworthy source. However, since many people don’t take the family tree at face value, the Patchpelt-Willowpelt relationship is still shared and spread around as a canon fact in the current version of the Warrior Cats continuity when it’s not. Vicky was unaware that Patchpelt and Willowpelt were closely related when she first stated that they were Graystripe’s parents and when it was pointed out to the Story Team, it was reversed.)