Comparison of daily distribution of rest/activity in companion cats and dogs

The aim of this study was to characterize cats and dogs' locomotor activity patterns in relation to housing conditions and owner interaction. Five adult cats and five adult dogs belonging to ten different owners were enrolled in the study. Animals were housed in apartments having daily access to the garden. Total locomotor activity (TLA) was recorded for one week by means of Actiwatch-Mini (R). The amount of activity was higher during the photophase than during the scotophase both in cats and dogs. Cats showed no daily rhythmicity of TLA, while dogs exhibited a daily rhythmicity with diurnal acrophase and high robustness values. We can claim that owner's presence influenced TLA of two studied species in different way: dogs showed higher amount of TLA and robustness, while cats lost their rhythmicity.