The bite of a small animal is worrying (9)

'worrying' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with human feelings as well as being present participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'the bite of a small animal' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?