Does she have onion scented fur Hywel?
Sorry no experience in this field - good luck anyway!

That's one way of keeping the fleas off! I would just leave them alone, Hywel. New leaves will grow up through the bases of the old ones, and the flattened ones will be a little smaller than the others once they bulb up.

Maybe she did after sleeping on them Sue lol :D

Thanks Tugbrethil.

Oh dear Bella you will be in trouble ?

You're welcome!

Oops !!! Bella you are in trouble, my pets make beds in my Black Grass near the fishpond and I have to put a barrier up when the g'house door needs to be open, I remember as a kid that my uncle and grandad used to lay the leaves flat once their onions got going, as did most gardeners down the allotments, theirs were always alright Hywel, cannot for the life of me remember the reason though .Not a great deal of help, sorry, LOL..

The practice of pushing over the stalks was originally supposed to help the onions ripen and harden off faster. That would be useful in short-season climates, but it came to be practiced even in southern California, "Because that's how you grow onions, son!"
It turns out to be just another garden myth, but it's still a common practice, often because that's what the gardening book published in 1952 says to do.

The leaves will naturally fall over when it's time to harvest, but I feel you should try to stake them up if you can. It will keep the bugs off them & better for the onion in terms of photosynthesis.

Thanks for all your comments.

Bella is never in trouble :)))

I accidentally stepped on some of them myself yesterday so even more are flat now lol !

What are you like Hywel...
I bet most of us have trodden on something by mistake int he past - I know I have.