I like little pussy, her coat is so warm;
And if I don’t hurt her she’ll do me no harm.

This couplet is from a well-known English-language children’s rhyme about a child’s gentle treatment of a pet cat (“pussy”). It circulated widely in 18th–19th century nursery literature and was commonly printed in primers and collections intended to teach very young readers both simple meter and moral lessons about kindness to animals. The lines typically appear as the opening of a longer stanza in which the speaker describes stroking the cat’s fur and the cat’s friendly behavior in return. Because it was transmitted through oral tradition and repeatedly reprinted without consistent attribution, it is generally treated as anonymous in quotation and folklore reference works.

The rhyme links affection with reciprocity: the cat is pleasant to hold (“her coat is so warm”), and the child recognizes that safety and harmony depend on gentle conduct (“if I don’t hurt her she’ll do me no harm”). On a simple level it teaches children how to behave around animals—avoid roughness, and the animal will not scratch or bite. More broadly, it encodes a moral of nonviolence and mutual respect: kindness reduces the likelihood of harm and fosters trust. The sing-song meter and domestic imagery make the lesson memorable, turning ethical instruction into a comforting scene of everyday care.

1) “I like little pussy, her coat is so warm, / And if I don’t hurt her, she’ll do me no harm.”
2) “I love little pussy, her coat is so warm; / And if I don’t hurt her, she’ll do me no harm.”
3) “I like little pussy, her coat is so warm; / If I don’t hurt her, she’ll do me no harm.”