Qif Trying to Look Contrite after her Second Nip

My cat Qif bit me yesterday. I was brushing her before her breakfast, and without warning, like snarling or hissing, she turned around and bit me hard on my left shin, and I bled. This was the second time; she bit me once before -- on 21 March -- in the same way; I brushed her too enthusiastically, and one of the tooth marks went deep and caused infection. My ankle swelled badly. I was on penicillin (Amoxicillin) for four weeks and it took three additional weeks for the swelling in the ankle to recede. For over a year I have been brushing her before each meal instead of now and then when I remembered. I made brushing a routine this way (for myself) to control her shedding on furniture. Generally she didn’t mind being brushed. What I realized after the second nip is that I got the Pavlovian reflex in reverse. I expected the kitty to enjoy being brushed with the meal held in anticipation; but the brushing must have stimulated her appetite. So, the two biting incidents occurred when there was an extra long stretch of time with the current meal delayed or the previous meal given too early. This morning I didn’t brush her until after she finished her breakfast and retired on my bed for a good morning sleep. She liked being brushed then, purred a lot, and rolled on her back to expose the underside for more brushing. I guess I was obtuse; I now remember her occasional gentle snarls she made after brushing as if to say: That's enough already. I now got her message. She is trying to look contrite but hardly able to conceal her insolence.

PS: It’s nearly a month since I started brushing Qif between meals. Now, it has become a routine to brush her once a day after breakfast when she is relaxing or, more likely, sleeping, on my bed. As soon as I pick up the wire comb I use for brushing she recognizes and starts purring. She loves to be brushed and can never have enough of it and will let me go on and on until I decide to quit. She rolls over to indicate that she wants her soft underside brushed and keeps her arms -- her forelegs -- high up. I can swivel open her hind leg to get into the “corners.” All along, she not only purrs and gurgles but makes an under-the-breath squeak that she used to make watching birds outside the window at the suburban house. I brush her again in the afternoon on the bed -- my bed -- if she is lying on the different side -- on her left since she more often lies to sleep on her right. 09.26.11