Pet-ernal instincts!

Brits are choosing to get a new pet in place of starting a family, according to a new survey. A total of 37 per cent of people said they would get their broody partner a pet instead of having children, according to the research conducted by Petplan, the UK's leading pet insurance provider. The decision to put family life on hold in favour of nurturing a four-legged friend was almost equally divided between men and women, a meagre one per cent majority of men preferring pet ownership to fatherhood.

One in 20 married couples surveyed admitted to having already purchased a cat or dog instead of starting a family while 17 per cent of people got a pet because they didn't like coming home to an empty house. A dog was the most popular pet to have in place of children followed by a cat.

The survey also revealed that you can forget names like Rover, Buster and Fluffy, pets are more likely to be named Molly, Alfie and Charlie.

The popular human monikers have now become favourites among pet owners with eight of the top ten pet names more commonly used to name children.

A spokesman for animal insurance specialists Petplan, said: "This research shows that we are treating our pets more like members of our family than ever before, and we are even naming them as we would our children. Our records show, the way we name our pets often reflects what is happening in society at any given time. For example, we saw a sudden rise in the name ‘Alfie' when Shane Richie's character in Eastenders became popular. And just last week, we had a customer register two kittens named ‘Credit' and ‘Crunch'!"