Tiltai

Animal-assisted therapy involves the use of various animals; however, dogs are the most commonly used, while cat-assisted therapy (felinotherapy) remains a relatively new and under-explored field. Felinotherapy is considered a complementary method that supports conventional treatment approaches, and may have a positive impact on children’s mental health by enhancing emotional well-being, social skills and the child-animal bond, particularly in work with autistic children. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of this therapy. The aim of this article is to present the first results of pilot felinotherapy sessions conducted in Lithuania. The study involved 12 children of different ages with various emotional and behavioural difficulties. Data were collected through the analysis of parental feedback after the therapy, using a questionnaire consisting of open-ended and closed questions about the child’s condition before, during and after the therapy, as well as observed changes and overall evaluation of the therapy. In summary, based on parental feedback following cat-assisted therapy, this intervention has a positive impact on children experiencing various behavioural and emotional difficulties. Parents noted that after the therapy, their children experienced reduced anxiety, anger and tension, and began to interact more. According to the parents’ responses, this therapy fosters self-control skills and reduces social isolation. Cat-assisted therapy stands out as a gentle, child-friendly approach that helps children relax and engage more easily in the therapeutic process. However, due to the limited sample size, these results cannot be broadly generalised. Felinotherapy is a promising but under-researched area of animal-assisted therapy. Further systematic and comprehensive scientific research is necessary to substantiate its effectiveness.

The qualitative and quantitative analysis of canine therapy with children with special educational needs is presented in this article. Canine therapy sessions were carried out in two groups of participants. The 1st group consisted from children with behavioural-emotional problems, the second group – consisted from children who have disability of intelligence and have diagnosis confirmed by physicians. The qualitative and quantitative analysis confirmed positive social, emotional, psychological and educational changes in both groups of children. Relatively greater changes are observed in the group of children with disability of intelligence. The parents of first group of children evaluated their behavioural-emotional difficulties before and after canine therapy sessions. There were no significant differences in mothers scores of children behavioural-emotional difficulties before and after canine therapy sessions, fathers’ scores of behavioral-emotional difficulties of children are lower after canine therapy sessions, and significantly lower are scores of anxiety / depression difficulties after canine therapy sessions.