diff --git a/esphome/components/lvgl/lvgl_esphome.cpp b/esphome/components/lvgl/lvgl_esphome.cpp
index ce9b013dcf1..d8248e4aa4e 100644
--- a/esphome/components/lvgl/lvgl_esphome.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/lvgl/lvgl_esphome.cpp
@@ -642,26 +642,28 @@ void LvglComponent::write_random_() {
   int iterations = 6 - lv_display_get_inactive_time(this->disp_) / 60000;
   if (iterations <= 0)
     iterations = 1;
+  int16_t width = lv_display_get_horizontal_resolution(this->disp_);
+  int16_t height = lv_display_get_vertical_resolution(this->disp_);
   while (iterations-- != 0) {
-    int32_t col = random_uint32() % this->width_;
+    int32_t col = random_uint32() % width;
     col = col / this->draw_rounding * this->draw_rounding;
-    int32_t row = random_uint32() % this->height_;
+    int32_t row = random_uint32() % height;
     row = row / this->draw_rounding * this->draw_rounding;
     // size will be between 8 and 32, and a multiple of draw_rounding
     int32_t size = (random_uint32() % 25 + 8) / this->draw_rounding * this->draw_rounding;
-    lv_area_t area{col, row, col + size - 1, row + size - 1};
+    lv_area_t area{.x1 = col, .y1 = row, .x2 = col + size - 1, .y2 = row + size - 1};
     // clip to display bounds just in case
-    if (area.x2 >= this->width_)
-      area.x2 = this->width_ - 1;
-    if (area.y2 >= this->height_)
-      area.y2 = this->height_ - 1;
+    if (area.x2 >= width)
+      area.x2 = width - 1;
+    if (area.y2 >= height)
+      area.y2 = height - 1;
 
     // line_len can't exceed 1024, and minimum buffer size is 2048, so this won't overflow the buffer
     size_t line_len = lv_area_get_width(&area) * lv_area_get_height(&area) / 2;
     for (size_t i = 0; i != line_len; i++) {
-      ((uint32_t *) (this->draw_buf_))[i] = random_uint32();
+      reinterpret_cast<uint32_t *>(this->draw_buf_)[i] = random_uint32();
     }
-    this->draw_buffer_(&area, (lv_color_data *) this->draw_buf_);
+    this->draw_buffer_(&area, reinterpret_cast<lv_color_data *>(this->draw_buf_));
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/esphome/core/application.h b/esphome/core/application.h
index 2f723daec18..d37400a335c 100644
--- a/esphome/core/application.h
+++ b/esphome/core/application.h
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ class Application {
   void enable_component_loop_(Component *component);
   void enable_pending_loops_();
   void activate_looping_component_(uint16_t index);
-  inline void ESPHOME_ALWAYS_INLINE before_loop_tasks_(uint32_t loop_start_time);
+  inline uint32_t ESPHOME_ALWAYS_INLINE before_loop_tasks_(uint32_t loop_start_time);
   inline void ESPHOME_ALWAYS_INLINE after_loop_tasks_() { this->in_loop_ = false; }
 
   /// Process dump_config output one component per loop iteration.
@@ -541,18 +541,15 @@ inline void Application::drain_wake_notifications_() {
 }
 #endif  // USE_HOST
 
-inline void ESPHOME_ALWAYS_INLINE Application::before_loop_tasks_(uint32_t loop_start_time) {
+inline uint32_t ESPHOME_ALWAYS_INLINE Application::before_loop_tasks_(uint32_t loop_start_time) {
 #ifdef USE_HOST
   // Drain wake notifications first to clear socket for next wake
   this->drain_wake_notifications_();
 #endif
 
-  // Process scheduled tasks. Scheduler::call now feeds the watchdog itself
-  // after each scheduled item that actually runs, so we no longer need an
-  // unconditional feed here — when Scheduler::call has no work to do, the
-  // only elapsed time is a sleep wake + a few instructions, and when it does
-  // have work, it fed the wdt as it went.
-  this->scheduler.call(loop_start_time);
+  // Scheduler::call feeds the WDT per item and returns the timestamp of the
+  // last fired item, or the input unchanged when nothing ran.
+  uint32_t last_op_end_time = this->scheduler.call(loop_start_time);
 
   // Process any pending enable_loop requests from ISRs
   // This must be done before marking in_loop_ = true to avoid race conditions
@@ -570,6 +567,7 @@ inline void ESPHOME_ALWAYS_INLINE Application::before_loop_tasks_(uint32_t loop_
 
   // Mark that we're in the loop for safe reentrant modifications
   this->in_loop_ = true;
+  return last_op_end_time;
 }
 
 // NOLINTNEXTLINE(clang-diagnostic-unknown-attributes)
@@ -588,7 +586,13 @@ inline void ESPHOME_ALWAYS_INLINE __attribute__((optimize("O2"))) Application::l
   // Get the initial loop time at the start
   uint32_t last_op_end_time = MillisInternal::get();
 
-  this->before_loop_tasks_(last_op_end_time);
+  // Returned timestamp keeps us monotonic with last_wdt_feed_ (advanced by
+  // the scheduler's per-item feeds) without an extra millis() call.
+  last_op_end_time = this->before_loop_tasks_(last_op_end_time);
+  // Guarantee a WDT touch every tick — covers configs with no looping
+  // components and no scheduler work, where the per-item / per-component
+  // feeds never fire. Rate-limited inline fast path, ~free when unneeded.
+  this->feed_wdt_with_time(last_op_end_time);
 #ifdef USE_RUNTIME_STATS
   uint32_t loop_before_end_us = micros();
   uint64_t loop_before_scheduled_us = ComponentRuntimeStats::global_recorded_us - loop_recorded_snap;
diff --git a/esphome/core/scheduler.cpp b/esphome/core/scheduler.cpp
index 7e6ad19ac70..b0eaa670ac2 100644
--- a/esphome/core/scheduler.cpp
+++ b/esphome/core/scheduler.cpp
@@ -533,7 +533,7 @@ void HOT Scheduler::process_defer_queue_slow_path_(uint32_t &now) {
 }
 #endif /* not ESPHOME_THREAD_SINGLE */
 
-void HOT Scheduler::call(uint32_t now) {
+uint32_t HOT Scheduler::call(uint32_t now) {
 #ifndef ESPHOME_THREAD_SINGLE
   this->process_defer_queue_(now);
 #endif /* not ESPHOME_THREAD_SINGLE */
@@ -703,6 +703,9 @@ void HOT Scheduler::call(uint32_t now) {
     this->debug_verify_no_leak_();
   }
 #endif
+  // execute_item_() advances `now` as items fire; return it so the caller
+  // stays monotonic with last_wdt_feed_.
+  return now;
 }
 void HOT Scheduler::process_to_add_slow_path_() {
   LockGuard guard{this->lock_};
diff --git a/esphome/core/scheduler.h b/esphome/core/scheduler.h
index 432a488a387..b7e99d46030 100644
--- a/esphome/core/scheduler.h
+++ b/esphome/core/scheduler.h
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@ class Scheduler {
 
   // Execute all scheduled items that are ready
   // @param now Fresh timestamp from millis() - must not be stale/cached
-  void call(uint32_t now);
+  // @return Timestamp of the last item that ran, or `now` unchanged if none ran.
+  uint32_t call(uint32_t now);
 
   // Move items from to_add_ into the main heap.
   // IMPORTANT: This method should only be called from the main thread (loop task).