Werecats are therianthropes who transform into cats or half-cats.[1] As other such creatures, they are hardly hurt by steel but very vulnerable to silver.
There are two most common ways to aquire ailuranthropy: the first one through a curse[2] and the second is to simply have a werecat parent.[1][3] Being bitten by another werecat, while popular in folk tales, gives only a very small chance of becoming one in reality.[2] Those who are born as werecats are able to fully control their shapeshifting abilities,[1][3] while those cursed or bitten change into their werecat form only during the full moon.[2] Those who became werecats during their lives however are the only ones who can be cured.[3]
Therianthropy diseases, including ailuranthropy, appeared in the world after the Conjunction of the Spheres, affecting nonhuman and early human populations alike.[2] In Creigiau, the local noble family carried the ailuranthropic gene for generations; attempts at hiding their secret resulted in creation of local cult of Leshy believed by folk to haunt the forests in its cat form.[3]
Werecats have a good night vision, slightly better than those or real cats. They find faithful companions in other felids, either domestic ones[2] or wild such as pumas or lynxes.[3] As one would expect, they are hostile towards werewolves and wererats.
Known werecats
Gallery
Footnotes
- ↑ So far, Andrzej Sapkowski tended to use real world Greek names for his werecreatures, such as lycanthrope for a werewolf and therianthrope as a term encompassing all such beasts. Ailuranthrope is a Greek term for a werecat, but hasn't appeared in the books yet.