Creature comforts

Clockwise from top: Yang Jie with two of her seven cats, and she's saddened by the fact that there are so many stray cats in Beijing; Qiao Jingwen's Baobao; Jiang Xiaobin's father with his poodle Xiaohei.

Cats were not tamed until about 3,600 years ago, first by ancient Egyptians, which may explain why cats are not as easy to control as dogs.

I did not heed my friend's off-the-cuff suggestion to forget about getting a cat and have now become a fully fledged cat mother. I have been surprised to discover just how many people around me have pets.

When they talk about their pets, each story sounds as touching and amazing as that of Hachiko, a famed dog in Tokyo in the 1920s whose loyalty endured even after his beloved master went to the grave.

To Hachiko, Professor Hidesaburo Ueno was an indispensable companion, which is exactly what pets are now to many people in many places.

Forbes quotes data from the National Bureau of Statistics saying that China has 27.4 million dogs, following the United States and Brazil. China is said to have about 58 million cats, the second largest after the US.

Goumin.com, China's leading online social network for pet owners, says 79.5 percent of owners are in their 20s and 30s, and that more than 58 percent are women. China's pet economy has grown at an annual rate of 30 percent in recent years.

According to some people, children growing up with pets are more willing to share and to communicate with others. Keeping pets provides Chinese born in the era of the one-child policy with a reflection of their relationships with their parents, lovers and children. For many old people whose children are not around, pets can become the biggest comfort of their life.

Charlotte Qiu, 32, an only child, moved out of her parents' home last year to live on her own. She has already been unhappy with her job, she says, moreover, outside work her life seemed to consist of little more than an endless succession of blind dates.

"I seemed to have no interest in anything, and I was on the verge of depression."

She then decided to get a cat. When it arrived things began to pick up for her. But soon the downsides of this constant companion became obvious.