Lucky moggies everywhere are being showered with ‘guilt gifts’ because their owners feel bad about spending too much time at work.

A survey by Mintel has revealed that Britain’s workers spend around £400m every year pampering their pets to compensate for not being at home with them.

A fifth of workers feel guilty about having to leave their pets at home when they go to work, and three-quarters said they treated their pet like a member of the family.

A futher 7% blamed a culture of long-hours in the office for not spending enough time with their beloved pets.

To overcome their guilt, the market for lavish pet goods and ‘designer’ food has risen by 20% over the past five years.

And the trend for pets to be treated more like humans – with products such as disposable cleansing wipes emerging for dogs – is likely to increase as workers spend more cash on their animals.

Claire Hatcher, a senior market analyst at Mintel, suggested that regular ‘take your dog to work days’ could redress the balance.