Personality differences between dogs and cats living in the same household.

Dogs and cats have both adapted to live in human environments. However, species-specific features and owner-pet relationship could affect pet personality traits. We compared personalities of dogs and cats living in the same household and investigated if owner’s management and attitude could contribute to differentiate their personality. The study is part of RandAgiamo®, a project aimed to increase the adoptability of shelter dogs. 1270 owners of dogs and cats in the same household answered to a multiple-choice questionnaire, collecting data on their pets’ personality by 15 adjectives rated on a 6-point scale. Demographic and management data were also collected. Principal component analysis extracted 5 principal components: Sociability, Activity, Protective, Aggressiveness–Shyness, Fear. Dogs scored higher in Sociability (t=17.00, P<0.001) and Protective (t=21.92, P<0.001), whereas cats in Activity (t=-8.11, P<0.001) and Aggressiveness–Shyness components (t=-47.84, P<0.001). Owners who keep their cat both indoor and outdoor and their dog indoor had dogs (t=5.72, P<0.001) and cats (t=4.32, P<0.001) more protective and dogs more aggressive (t=3.00, P<0.01) than owners who keep their cat indoor and their dog outdoor. Owners defining pet-owner relationship as “loving” had dogs (t=2.11, P<0.05) and cats (t=4.00, P<0.0001) more sociable, dogs calmer (t=2.57, P<0.05) and cats more protective (t=3.36, P<0.01) than owners defining cat-owner and dog-owner relationship as “friendly”. Physiological and ethological species-specific characteristics as well as different domestication processes can explain differences in personality of dogs and cats. However, management habits or pet-owner relationship could influence the perception of the pets’ personality.