Eating habits/sharing food

Question
Hi Lisa
My question isn't a problem that needs solving, just an interesting observation I've made and I was wondering about the psychology behind it.

We recently got a new kitten, a male moggy (RICO). We have a two-year old female moggy (LUCY) who wasn't very pleased with the newcomer for the first two weeks (kept on hissing at him and running away), but now they're BIG mates. I've always kept their food separately, but the little fella just marches over to Lucy's bowl and eats her food right under her nose. She sits back contentedly and lets him have his fill, and when he's finished, she eats the rest of the food left behind. This doesn't seem to bother her!

I was wondering why she allows him to eat first, as I would have thought she would have chased him away, had her fill first, and then let him have the leftovers. I thought the possibilities might be:

1. A motherly instinct in Lucy that makes her look after Rico's needs before her own
2. A natural hierarchy amongst them that allows the male to eat first, even though he's still small
3. Rico's dominant personality (he seems to be incredibly intelligent and afraid of nothing)

Sorry if I'm wasting your time with an apparently less relevant question, but I really think we as pet owners should always endeavour to better understand our pets' behaviours and personalities, so we can optimize our relationships with them. (For instance, my first impulse was to take Rico away and let Lucy eat first, but I might be upsetting the natural order that they had created amongst themselves and that makes perfect sense to them!)

Thanks, best regards

George.

Answer
#1 is the closest. she has taken him to raise and is letting him , as her child, eat first. this is a natural and wonderful thing. they will be bonded forever now. she will bath him and sleep with him and he will be her son now...thats great! congrats!!