Absolutely, I’ll talk about that now.
The Cat and Dog (Matto & Kilo: Names) are a customizable companion feature. They are fully animated using bones (Like Wingflex). Not only are they very complex animations but they are fully incorporated into the weight loadout of the aircraft. You may turn on and off the companions and customize your weight payloads in Flight using a companion switch (Top Console).
Available Events:
1: Resting Dog & Sleeping Cat Cat
2: Dog Sitting
3: Dog Resting
4: Cat Resting
5: Cat Sleeping
6: None
The companions take place of the empty third seat. MSFS currently doesn’t support 3 characters in the cockpit. You can only visually see a Pilot and Copilot (As far as I’m aware) and the option to add a flight attendant or instructor has not been added yet.
Hope this answers your question, but yes, “livestock” can be switched off.
We are using the Edgley Optica as a test bed for the mod mentioned here: