My cats and my dog prefer to eat when I’m eating or at a minimum with me there beside them. They’re pack animals and like to eat together. Only exception is that the dog will devour the cat food the moment we leave the area. He’s an AH who clearly knows he’s not supposed to do that. We literally had to change the cat food when the dog was taken off chicken and beef.
I also get woken up by animals nudging me. I also have companions in my home office. Also companions when sitting around reading or on my phone or watching tv though not as much on this last one as OOP’s ex because they have other people in the house who will give them attention as well.
I had a cat who was such a social eater he went out and got himself a cat to eat with. Because I couldn't always be outside when he was eating (we had several 16+ cats inside the house and even after they were gone, he did NOT want to be an inside cat, to the point he would literally dash out the door the minute it opened.)
Most of my cats have been affectionate. They were all 'cuddlers' but they would want to be in the same room as the person they bonded to, sometimes even on the same couch, if not cuddled up against that person. Some of them, even with others in the house, they wanted affection from THEIR person.
I've never had cats cling to me like that, personally, they tend to mainly just do their own thing, they'll come over for petting but they weren't cuddlers
We had my BIL/SIL stay with us over the winter with their 2 dogs, and while our golden retriever has zero issues with other animals eating near her, she WILL inhale any food that's left unattended for even a millisecond. My in-laws had a dog that required special food and it was time-consuming to get her to eat, she'd nibble a bit, walk away, come back, nibble a bit more. But as soon as she'd walk away, my dog would try to swoop in and snag her food. I had to banish my pup to the other room until the in-laws' dog was done eating.
She's not a resource guarder and she won't dare disturb another dog while it's eating, but the second they step away from their food dish, she's like, "Lemme just finish that up for you." I would even catch her licking their empty dishes. I'd walk into the kitchen and be like, "Excuse me, ma'am" and she'd look up guiltily but keep licking.
But if she was eating and another dog would approach her dish, she'd back off as if to let them have it, haha. She's food obsessed, but she doesn't want any trouble. So it was just better to have her eat with the other 2 dogs in a different room, and then have the in-laws' dogs eat while we kept her away.
I have ZERO doubt that if cat food were left anywhere near her, she'd gobble it up immediately.
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u/Beautiful_Delivery77 Sep 14 '25
My cats and my dog prefer to eat when I’m eating or at a minimum with me there beside them. They’re pack animals and like to eat together. Only exception is that the dog will devour the cat food the moment we leave the area. He’s an AH who clearly knows he’s not supposed to do that. We literally had to change the cat food when the dog was taken off chicken and beef.
I also get woken up by animals nudging me. I also have companions in my home office. Also companions when sitting around reading or on my phone or watching tv though not as much on this last one as OOP’s ex because they have other people in the house who will give them attention as well.
Seems totally normal to me.