Green’s Dictionary of Slang

pleading adj.

a euph. for bleeding adj.

1905		Sporting Times 4 Mar. 2/3: In these days, Alf, I notice you’ve got to be satisfied with yer proper whack, whether you’re a Great White Czar or only a pleadin’ cat.
1905		Sporting Times 15 Apr. 2/4: Do the canaries an’ git put away for three months! Me! Me, as has stood in Club Row, Befnal Green, every Sunday mornin’ for the las’ fifty-seven years an’ never faked a bird in me pleadin’ natural!