You've had pets your whole life. That does not mean you can read them.
Most bite and scratch stories start the same way: "He has never done that before."
Animals almost always did something before. We just did not have the language for it.
Three signs lifelong owners miss:
A freeze. Still body, closed mouth, hard eyes. That is not calm. That is a decision being made.
A yawn or lip lick when nothing is funny. That is stress, not tiredness.
Turning the head away when a child goes in for a hug. That is a polite no. If we ignore it, the next no is not polite.
None of this makes you a bad owner. It means nobody taught you the vocabulary.
This week, just watch for those three. That alone will change how you move around your animals.