PRINCIPLES OF COEXISTENCE OF DOGS AND CATS SHARING A LIVING ENVIRONMENT

Popular opinion holds that dogs and cats are eternal enemies that are unable to commu- nicate. In many households in Poland and other countries, they are not kept together in the home for fear of conflicting personalities or behaviour. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that despite their many differences, dogs and cats can live together and share a living environment. To test this hypothesis, a questionnaire was created and completed by owners of animals of these two species. The questionnaire contained questions about the animals’ characteristics and their behaviour towards the other species with which they coexist. Answers were provided by 87 individuals. The questionnaire consisted of closed questions with one answer or multiple answers. It was divided into three sections: questions about the respondent’s cat, questions about the dog, and questions about the social be- haviour of the cat and the dog. To compare the results for the two species, the answers to two of the questions were grouped into categories of behaviour. The survey showed that the respondents’ pets were mainly in the age range of 2–8 years, and that mixed breeds were predominant. The results indi- cated that dogs and cats are largely friendly towards one another. Thus it can be concluded that these two species can live together in the same household provided that certain criteria are met. The most important of these are an adequate length of time spent in the litter with the mother, so that the animal can acquire appropriate behaviour patterns, and contact with the other species at a very early age.