An aging warrior, queen, or medicine cat may retire as an elder due to own initiative, when they feel they cannot help the Clan efficiently any more. A cat may also retire if they are hindered from serving their Clan through old age, illness, or injury. They report this to the Clan Leader, who calls a Clan Meeting and addresses the warrior.

ELDER CEREMONY

Leader: (Warrior), is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go to join the elders?

Warrior: It is.

Leader: Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest.

The Clan will call out the retired warrior's name and then he or she will go to the elder's den. An elder may receive a completely different name, with a different ceremony, than keeping their warrior name; in ThunderClan, there were the elders Halftail and One-eye, who originally had different warrior names. This ceremony is also used for other reasons, such as changing Lostface's name to Brightheart.

Usually, an elder ceremony is held only when a cat retires due to old age. If they are forced to retire because of a severe injury (such as Longtail or Stonepelt), there is no ceremony.