I believe her affectionately calling me a "dumb cat" in a night dream was a direct response to me daydreaming about a scenario in which she calls me a "stupid cat" while trying to repress how she really feels about me.
My dreams have been like that since March. If I could go through a catalog of my dreams, I'm sure it's been that way for a long time. But it's a lot more noticeable because I'm (mostly) dreaming about being something other than what I am in the real world.