Can a skeletal mesh attached to a socket animate?

I’d like to know if it’s possible to have a skeletal mesh actor that’s attached to, say, the player character via a Skeletal Mesh Socket that has its own animation data. Could I, for example, have a small creature like a cat occupy the world and then pick him up with my player character by attaching him to the character’s SM socket in the player character’s Skeleton?

Would the cat still be able to process animation data from within its own persona?

A proof-of-concept question before I start creating all these assets that won’t work the way I imagine they will.

Thanks

Yes, totally doable. Socket attachment is probably the way to go, as you mention.