They’ll never throw a house party while you’re away, they never let you down and they’ll never ask to borrow money: are pets becoming more preferable than your own kin?

New research from the University of Warwick suggests just that: pets are sometimes closer to us than our actual family.

The research was presented last month during the British Sociological Association Conference at the University of Warwick in a paper entitled, “My Family and other Animals: Pets as Kin”. It’s based upon a survey in which families were asked to define their closest relationships.

Professor Nickie Charles explains how surprising the results were: ‘We weren't expecting this, but when we asked people to map out their families and friends we were repeatedly asked if they should include their dog, their cat or another pet.

‘Often the request was made with a smile, but about a quarter of those surveyed asked if they could include pets.

‘In some ways it makes sense that people value those family and friends which are most useful to them. If pets are useful, either as assistance animals or simply as company, then they have greater emotional value to individuals than a relative we just keep on our Christmas card list.’

193 people were asked to draw up a Relationship Network Diagram and 44 of these spontaneously mentioned pets. According to Professor Charles, the traditional socially constructed boundary between people and animals is becoming more and more blurred.