I didn't mean to cause any problems!

But in case there is something going on, I will say I paused with the spacebar on that slot only and minimized it without returning to the menu of the game.

Perhaps it was just timing on my game. Since I have 4 other slots active it is very well possible that I checked the other 4 first and between that and pausing the one game slot their status and hunger leveled changed without me realizing it.

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback and well wishes! They were all fully fed and feeling much better by the time I went to bed!