rebbykins replied to your post “Lately Nim has decided that she is a necessary participant in family...”
Do you think this is a from of mirroring? Like if your family didn't all sit down to dinner before this but now does, she has decided she must be part of the sitting-at-the-table event?
It’s not totally recent--she’s done this in the past, but she’s doing it every meal now. It probably is a mirroring thing, but I also think it has to do with her declining vision. She’s always liked to hang out with the family, but at this point she likes being near us because she knows we’ll help her get where she wants to go by picking her up and carrying her, and she knows we’ll watch her back. (Not that there’s much to watch out for, since we’re indoors, but...) I think she’s finding comfort in letting the big humans watch over her.
Her field of vision is limited, and when she wants to get up on the chairs she stands on her back legs and checks the height with her paws a few times before jumping up. It’s honestly adorable.