This is something Smudge does a lot. She's a "social eater", meaning
that she has to have company while she's eating. This is much more
important for dry food than wet - she seems able to eat her wet food
without much encouragement. :)

But when she wants to eat dry food, she'll only go to the bowl if I
get up. She sees me getting up and trots off to the kitchen, meowing
and looking back at me, for me to follow. If I get a clue and follow
her (I don't always - sometimes I actually have other things on my
mind, don't tell her!), she's thrilled. She'll hunker down and start
eating, looking up every few seconds for me to pet her and say, "Good
girl, Smudgie, go ahead!" Then she'll go back to eating, purring very
excitedly. I can see the sides of her chest expanding and contracting
with the force of her purring. When she opens her mouth, you can hear
the purrs coming out of her mouth, which mixes with the crunch noises.
(And dry cat food crunches louder than Cheerios!)

Joyce