"Same with Wildfur. His legs were only bruised. It was his backbone that was broken."
Littlecloud about Wildfur in Fading Echoes, page 168

Wildfur is a tom with a broken backbone.[1]


In the Omen of the Stars arc

Fading Echoes

When the tree falls in the camp and breaks Briarpaw's backbone, Leafpool advises Jayfeather to ask Littlecloud for help because the older medicine cat had dealt with an injury like Briarpaw's before. When Jayfeather and Squirrelflight arrive in ShadowClan, Jayfeather reads Littlecloud's thoughts and sees the tom yowling in agony, then in his nest limp with fear.
Littlecloud reveals that the cat's name was Wildfur and that he had a broken backbone when a burrow collapsed on his hind legs. Wildfur had survived for a little while, but he kept getting a cough that made it harder and harder to breathe. Along with just sitting in his nest all day, he got fluid in his lungs, assisting his quick death. He ended up dying from chest pains and greencough, for he could not breathe anymore from the lack of exercise. Littlecloud mentions Wildfur had a similar accident to Briarpaw's, so he advises them to maintain Briarpaw's health by keeping her moving so that she will not have to share the same fate as Wildfur.


"I had a case like that. Back when I was Runningnose's apprentice. Wildfur's legs were crushed by a collapsing burrow."
—Littlecloud to Jayfeather Fading Echoes, page 168

Jayfeather: "Did he recover?"
Littlecloud: "He died."
Jayfeather: "But Briarpaw's alive and feels no pain."
Littlecloud: "Same with Wildfur, to begin with. I don't think it was the broken backbone that killed him."
Jayfeather: "Then what killed him?"
Littlecloud: "He couldn't walk."
Squirrelflight: "Didn't you feed him?"
Littlecloud: "Of course we did, but he kept getting a cough, over and over. Each time we treated it, it came back. He found it harder and harder to breathe."
—Littlecloud, Jayfeather, and Squirrelflight talking about Wildfur Fading Echoes, page 168

Notes and references

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Revealed in Fading Echoes, page 168