Mikey:
My only painful experience with wild animals was with a koala. She was beautiful but having her hold onto my chest, with her claws dug into my chest as if it was a tree, made me wince a bit.
One of my cats (Tablo) asks to be stroked. She sits up on her hind legs, like a meerkat, and brushes here ears with her front paws, to show me what I've got to do.
(I hope that you're feeling better, BTW, and that Princess Merlin isn't leaving you exhausted!)