Days Since Lady Jane Grey Has Bit Me: 0

[lydy]

I have taken to sitting in the media room after work for an hour or so to be social with LJG. I was petting her, and she draped one front leg over my petting hand. If she were Naomi, this would have been an invitation to scrubble her belly, so I did that thing. She instantly did a hug-bite-kick, and now I have a slash on the heel of my hand, and two puncture wounds. She stopped, instantly, and I put my hand on her head in the "mother admonishing kitten" way, and told her that she had behaved badly. She did not struggle or protest being disciplined in such a fashion. That's interesting because she normally does. She tends to squirm and vocalize; this time she just lay there, looking a bit repentant. I got up and put antibiotic creme on my various injuries, and she was still on the couch when I got back, and responded well to being petted (on the head, not the belly). I really need to not pet her belly, I think.

Meanwhile, ouch.

Comments

[lydy.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear. That's... not very good.

Lady and I are still learning each other. She's very affectionate and sociable, but clearly has not been completely socialized. Me, I'm used to cats that love to have their bellies rubbed. When it's Nuit, we call it polishing her stars, because she has white patches on her belly, and her name means Night, so of course they're stars. Arwen has loved having her belly rubbed since she was a tiny, tiny kitten, and Naomi has always thought that this was a normal part of being petted. Ninja...Ninja loves everything and everyone, and having his belly rubbed is just part of being petted, so he's happy. Lady Jane is the only cat in the house that has objections, and it's been a long time since I lived with a cat who has said objections, so I forget. This is not her fault.

I feel badly that I accidentally pushed her buttons. She means well, but she gets over-excited. And it upsets her when she hurts me. I suspect she's worried about being abandoned or rejected. I don't know how it is she came to me, but clearly she was someone's cat at some point in her life. I want to do well by her, and she seems to want to do well by me. That's a good basis on which to build a relationship, you know?

Gods, I am besotted with my accidental cat. I seem to have a tropism for grey cats. Lilith, my best cat, was grey and white. Arwen, the cat that I love best who's still alive, is a muted tortie, mostly grey, with white and peach bits. And now there's Lady Jane Grey.