Pill-bug

pill-bug

verb

1.  the action in which a cat curl’s around a person’s arm, locking it in place with four sets of claws and one set of teeth

example:  By exposing his tummy fluff, Toby lures humans over to pet him, and in an unsuspecting moment, he pill-bugs them.
origin:  from the noun "pill-bug,"  an insect that curls in a similar fashion

He may look safe to pet, but this may be a pill-bug trap

                Pill-bugging occurs frequently at our home because we apparently do not learn from experience.  Experience should teach us that although a cat is fully relaxed and presenting a furry belly to pet, it is not necessarily safe to pet him.  Part of the problem is that we don’t know where the pill-bug activation button is so we inadvertently hit it by mistake.  One second the cat will be purring and completely into his kitty massage and a split-second later he is permanently attached to an arm and blood is oozing out.

                Once attached, the problem is how to detach.  Due to the pain involved, cat flinging is the first instinctual method attempted.  This results in a more aggressive attachment.  Prying off the paws one at a time is futile—the disengaged claw digs right back in as soon as we move on to the next one.  A combination of yelling, flinging, and prying seems to work best. 

                I’m not a yeller by nature, but nature is overridden when cats are involved—like when I’m startled as I trip over one on the stairs, or frustrated to find all my spring seedlings uprooted and the soil distributed over every inch of the guest room carpet, or in pain like when I’ve been pill-bugged.

                Cat ownership does not always bring out the best in me.