Oh alright, that makes sense. Thank you a lot <3 Maybe a long term plan could start up? I just want him to be an elder cause i've had him for a long time. Thank you for helping me in advance <3
Alright, so, for a longer term plot that makes Watertail obviously seem to have deteriorating health but not in such an extreme case that it is deemed an emergency that needs care beyond a medicine cat's capabilities, I would suggest sticking to the original plot of having him have weakened bones. A calcium deficiency was what I originally thought you were going for, but considering what you are after, I recommend cat osteoporosis. This would be a slow burn plot, in which Watertail would get the occasional joint pain after strenuous exercise that should not feel out of place and can be treated at the moment by Lightningstorm.
As the moons go by, the pain should eventually become more apparent until every day activity is too much for him to handle. I need to point out though, that he is very young for this particular illness, which is why I think it would be best if you could manifest it slowly, with a month starting to show his limbs occasionally hurting after going hunting, eventually going into being in pain from doing border patrols which are less active in another moon, and then eventually having him realize that despite he just woke up, he is in pain. Maybe try treatment one day, and then realize it hasn't gone away the next day so he goes in for more treatment, eventually being in observation for some days before Lightningstorm chooses to go to Twilightstar to let her know that Watertail is not fit to serve as a warrior any longer.
Please note, that while Watertail might have the eighty moons requirement to become an elder - I am unaware of his age, but judging by what you are saying he is at that point at least - he lacks the post requirement to become one. A character must have been active for at least one moon and have a total of 250 posts to qualify for elder life. I think a longer plot like this will hopefully make it so that he can get closer to the goal of 250 posts while still needing the check up from Lightningstorm to validate his retirement? Let me know if the osteoporosis route works for you or not! If not, let me know what I missed out on or what kind of ailment you had in mind and I will try to work around with that to give Watertail a medical plot that will strive to keep him in clan as an elder!
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Lightningstorm is WindClan's current medicine cat.
She has a semi-closed den policy.