Raising virtual cats has become a trend among young Chinese people recently, especially among unmarried folks living by themselves in major Chinese cities. This phenomenon, also known as "raising cloud cats", began with cat owners sharing photos and videos of their pets on social media -- only to amass a huge following. But is raising these so-called "cloud cats" really the same as the real deal? Our reporter Li Jianhua finds out.

Welcome to the cat house. Some of them are curious. Some are alert and some are sleeping like they never want to wake up. 

CAI JIE CAT HOUSE OWNER "People of different age groups are into raising cats now. Most of them are in their thirties or forties, but now people who were born after the 90s are also catching up."

Official statistics show that the number of pet cats and dogs in China hit 87-million as of the end of 2017, and this figure is likely to increase by 40 percent in the next three years, which means in every ten people, there would be one raising a cat or a dog.

And Cai said that more people are into having cats because felines don't require as much care as dogs.

LI JIANHUA BEIJING "Owning cats is an absolute dream for the cat lovers, but how about those people who can't afford to have cats, either because they work 247, or their living conditions do not allow them to have cats themselves. For those people, the next best choice would be raising cats on the Internet."

Chen is one of those cat lovers, and in her life, cats are everywhere, but NONE of them are actually real.

CHEN XIAODAN "CLOUD PET OWNER" "I'm not a local, and I move a lot. Sometimes I change jobs, so I don't think I have the time to take care of a cat."

Chen spends much of her time reading books and one of her favorites is "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe. She also spends time, as she puts it  "raising" her cats online.

CHEN XIAODAN "CLOUD PET OWNER" "To put simply, raising 'cloud cats' is about watching videos and looking at pictures of cats on the Internet. And you can also feed cats on some apps every day. It feels good to look at those adorable furballs. I'm happy to see those cats even though I don't have a cat of my own."

But Cai doesn't share the same view. When it comes to the so-called "cloud cats", he doesn't think it is practical at all.

CAI JIE CAT HOUSE OWNER "The very reason why people want pets is so they can get close to their pets. You feel a lot better by patting them if you are unhappy. However, simply looking at those cats on your mobile phone isn't the same as having a real cat."

Can't deny it though, in today's fast-paced world, the lifestyle of raising cats or pets online is slowly seeping into people's lives. LJH, CGTN, BEIJING.