I'll lick you, I'm neat

Question

I'll lick you, I'm neat
Nestled down at your feet
Softly purring away

I'm fearsome, I roar
I'm on guard while you snore
Watching shadows at play

But best you beware
Lest you treat me with care
You may trip a primitive rage

I'll lash out in a beat
And thrash all within reach
You'll wish I'd not slipped from my cage

---

I'll lick you, I'm neat
To guess me's a treat
I know I'll warm your heart

But if you've come late
Well, comment your hate
Then down-arrow, 'x' and depart

---

Hint 1:

Don't guess the obvious.

Hint 2:

Guess the slightly less obvious.

Hint 3:

The downvote button is on the left there.

Answer 1

Are you ...

A campfire

I'll lick you, I'm neat

tongues of flame

Nestled down at your feet

putting your feet up by the fire; campfires are on the ground by your feet

Softly purring away

poetic license for the quiet sizzlecracklepop of a low banked fire

 

I'm fearsome, I roar

put some ready flammables on a fire and it roars up quite fearsomely

I'm on guard while you snore

campfires ward away animals from your campsite, while you sleep

Watching shadows at play

flames cast dancing shadows

 

But best you beware
Lest you treat me with care
You may trip a primitive rage

an out of control fire is a primitive force of nature, so fires must always be carefully tended.

 

I'll lash out in a beat
And thrash all within reach

They can get out of control very quickly, and burn up everything in reach.

You'll wish I'd not slipped from my cage

indeed. forest fires are serious business!

 

I'll lick you, I'm neat
To guess me's a treat
I know I'll warm your heart

not really part of the riddle, as it's not in the block; but still, "warm" is a final clue

But if you've come late Well, comment your hate Then down-arrow, 'x' and depart

also not part of the riddle. this just completes the poem, with some humorous snark.

 

---

Hint 1:

Don't guess the obvious.
Which would be a cat. I'm not guessing that.

Hint 2:

Guess the slightly less obvious.
Which I hope I just did.

Hint 3:

The downvote button is on the left there.
Don't do it!

Answer 2

The obvious solution to the first section (4 verses) is

CAT (neat, licks, lies at your feet purring; lions roar, cats chase shadows and watch over sleeping humans; may fly into a rage if treated badly and lash out at anyone).

The obvious solution to the second section (3 verses) is

RIDDLE (neat, fun to guess, warms the heart; sometimes hated, downvoted, commented on, and closed).

Now putting these together, I wonder if we should use the fact that

CAT is the subject of a long-running RIDDLERS' meme here on PSE, often associated with riddles whose titles contain the word "pray":

You will have to pray!
riddle - pray you can find the word!
Riddle... pray that this is the last one

So perhaps the real intended answer is

PRAY.