My wife and I used to assume that our cats accompanied us on our walks in the garden simply because they are social creatures. Only later did we realize another factor: they were making sure that they were up-to-date on any alterations we might make to their environment. Such as, a new hiding place we might create for their prey to escape (and how to cut them of at the pass), or eliminating a place for them to escape from larger preditors (and not making the mistake of heading for a sanctuary that was no more). We were under surveillance!