SLEEPING in the sun for most of the day, being fed on demand, getting pampered head to paw.

Many cat and dog owners in Yorkshire say their pets enjoy ‘a lifestyle the Kardashians would envy’. And, says a survey, that’s the thinking behind two out of ten pets in the region having social media accounts.

Petfluencers, that’s what they’re called. A survey of 3,000 UK cat and dog owners by Asda Money reveals that there may be many more pets on the brink of animal stardom and what can be a lucrative business venture.

I’m desperate to get my cat on board. You can get loads of free stuff: food, toys, beds, litter, flea treatments, you name it. And you get paid for promoting it.

All your pet has to do it look doe-eyed and appealing for the photo shoots for their Instagram account.

Some of these cats - known as ‘catfleuncers’, have certainly nailed it: there’s Smoothie the Cat, aka Queen of Fluff, a British longhair who has 2.2 million followers on Instagram and whose owner collaborates with pet food brands.

Then there’s Pudge, who sports a bowler hat and bow tie in her publicity shots. She’s featured in Pudge-It-Yourself (DIY) handcraft videos on YouTube; and Nala, the most-followed cat on Instagram who has her own cat food brand.

I’m eager to get started, but will Amelia, our feisty 15-year-old cat play ball? I very much doubt it.

She’s a calico cat which, along with tortoiseshells, are known to be among the most challenging felines. She controls us and doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do, so a photo shoot of her wearing anything but a scowl is out of the question.

According to the survey 52 per cent of Yorkshire pet owners admit that they have to distract their pets with treats or toys during photoshoots, to get them to look at the camera.

I’d have to lash Amelia down with heavy duty cable ties to have even the remotest chance of her staying in one place for long enough to have her picture taken. Such images wouldn’t look too good on Instagram, although if I could get a good deal with Screwfix or B&Q we might be in business.

It would be great to forge a deal with a leading pet food company, but would anyone sign up to a promotion along the lines of: ‘loves it one day, hates it the next’? Cats must be the only animals who frequently devour a certain food with relish, then snub it entirely a few hours later.

They don’t only behave like this with the cheap stuff. As a devoted pet owner, I occasionally splash out on one of those high-end brands - pheasant flakes in partridge terrine, that sort of thing. It goes down a treat, but then I’m stupid enough to buy it again only to have Amelia turn her nose up at it.

It’s not wasted, however - the luxury stuff looks so good if I leave it on a plate in the fridge my husband will more than likely mistake it for pate and have it on toast.

Maybe my cat would be better plugging furniture - ‘what a great sofa for sharpening your claws on’, or ‘shed your hairs on these fab cushions’. I wonder if Sofology or Ikea would get on board with that. I could get a few good close-ups of all the loose threads hanging from the back of our settee, or the plastic bags I pull over the chair arms for protection.

Unusually, Amelia ignores our curtains, so sponsorship from the likes of Dunelm is a non-starter.

I don’t think my cat could ever be a catfleuncer. But, if cats could talk, would any of them really want a social media account? Cats are fiercely independent creatures and, unlike dogs, they don’t jump to our tune. I think the answer would be a firm no.