Wowo [Photo by Yang Yang/China Daily]

"Keeping cats has changed who I am. I used to care only about myself. But after learning to look after childlike cats and caring about their happiness, I have become a better teacher."

However, keeping cats is very much a minority interest in China. By 2014, 2 percent of families in urban areas had them, while 7 percent had dogs, the National Bureau of Statistics says.

Dogs have become good companions for older people as more young people head to big cities to seek work opportunities.

When Jiang Xiaobin moved to Beijing to work for a newspaper four years ago her parents in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, adopted a poodle named Xiaohei (little black), she says.

"When I was little they didn't allow me to keep pets, but this time it was they who decided they wanted one," she says.

Returning home after being away, Jiang's father makes a beeline for the attic, where the dog stays during the day, she says.

"My parents treat him like a son, kind of like a replacement for me. My father is his first master, my mother the second, and I am just his sister."

In fact the dog has become an important topic when her parents speak to her on the phone, and many of their daily activities have begun to revolve around the dog.

So that it can play on the roof they erected a ladder, and when Jiang's father bought a new car it meant he could take the dog on long trips, something they now often do. Jiang's mother learned how to do online shopping last year and she has bought clothes and toys for the dog. They even take the dog to a pet shop so that it can meet other dogs.