When Barbarella Buchner split from her partner-of-seven-years, the 48-year-old thought that she would never find love again.

But then love struck again, albeit from a very unusual direction. Now Ms Buchner is happily married once more - to her two pet cats.

Now the Lanzarote-based web designer says she's never been happier and is so devoted to her feline husbands, Spider and Lugosi, she has their initials tattooed on her right leg.

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Happily married: Barbarella Buchner is happily married to her two pet cats, Spider and Lugosi

'My two cats are my soul mates,' says Ms Buchner, who is originally from London. 'They're the loves of my life.

'Before when I had a human relationship, he'd come home and we'd argue over something or he'd want to chat when I don't want to chat.

'Lugosi and Spider are different - I'm definitely happily married to them. I'm not alone, I have my cats now. I have no regrets and I don't care what people say.'

Ms Buchner, who married the two felines 10 years ago this month, has long adored cats and has always kept the animals as pets.

'As a child, I was always surrounded by cats - our family always owned at least one or two of them,' she says.

Companions: The web designer married her pets over a decade ago, on the 9th January 2004

Happier than ever: Ms Buchner says she would never swap her feline spouses for a human husband

'I can't remember ever not being a cat lover or a lover of animals in general. But cats have always been my favourite.'

However Ms Buchner says she always wanted pet cats of her own and was unhappy about sharing her childhood pets with the rest of the family.

'Those cats were never my cats,' she explains. 'They were adopted by my parents. I couldn't have the relationship I wanted to because I didn't feed our family cats. My parents fed them.

'I didn't take them to the vets. My parents took them to the vets. The cats were more of a plaything to me at the time.

'But of course, my parents always taught me from an early age to respect cats and not be nasty to them.'

When Ms Buchner finally got the chance to adopt her own cats at the age of 34, she took her new responsibilities very seriously.

'For me, it was like when you know you're having a baby,' she remembers. 'Before you have a baby or adopt a child, you look on the internet to learn as much as possible.

Handsome: Ms Buchner's 14-year-old husband Spider peers into the camera

Mementos: Ms Buchner's home is crammed with photos of her two cat husbands

Much loved: She says her relationship with them is deeper than any she's had with a human man

'You read lots of books and attend support groups. That's what I did as well before I adopted my cats.'

In March 2000, Ms Buchner brought her two tabby tom cats home for the first time, having adopted them from an animal shelter in East London.

'It was love at first sight when I laid my eyes on my two boys, Lugosi and Spider,' she says. 'I'll never forget that day.

'They were rubbing themselves against the mesh and purring. It was all over - I knew I wanted those cats.

'I could tell the feeling of love was mutual judging by their purrs and the way they were brushing their little faces against the inside of their cage. These two tabby brothers were coming home with me.'

Although Ms Buchner has been in a few long-term relationships with men, she has never married - and says she never wanted to.

Devoted: So devoted to the cats is Ms Buchner, she has a tattoo of their initials on her right leg

Official: Ms Buchner made her love for the cats official on the 9th January 2004

'"I never really wanted to get married to any of my human partners and I didn't know if I had it in me to be a wife,' she explains. 'Some women are built to clean up after their men. I'm not like that.

'But I never minded being my cats' servants. I'm not a submissive person but I'll do anything for Lugosi and Spider.'

She also says Lugosi and Spider were a comfort to her after her last relationship, which lasted for seven years, broke down.

'My ex was the most important person in my life until things stopped working between us,' explains Ms Buchner. 'We ended up sleeping in separate rooms.

'I thought there was more hope for us but in the end, there wasn't. I felt like he wanted me to be a mother to him.

'It was so painful breaking up with him. I cried for weeks after we split up. But the cats really helped me through the process. I would cry into Lugosi's and Spider's fur. They were on the sofa with me all the time and I felt calm.

'After my human boyfriend had left, Spider and Lugosi were still there for me, helping me get through the separation anxieties and feelings of sadness.

'I have loved and lived with a couple of partners before but I realised that my love for my fur babies is so much deeper than anything I have felt for a human.'

Three years after adopting the animals, Ms Buchner decided to make their love official and looked into ways to marry her cats, finding a website called marryyourpet.com in the process.

After being approved by the two women who ran the website and paying a fee, Barbarella tied the knot with Lugosi and Spider in a quickie ceremony on the 9th January 2004.

'When I came across the marryyourpet.com website, I screamed: "Have my money and send me a certificate of our marriage!"

'Marrying Lugosi and Spider was something I liked to do for myself. It was something I had to do.'

The same year, Ms Buchner - and with her two cats - relocated to Lanzarote to make a fresh start abroad.

'Some people may call me a bigamist for marrying two cats or even call our marriage incest because they're brothers,' she continues.

History: Ms Buchner has always had pet cats but says she didn't like sharing them with the rest of her family

Cat central: Her Lanzarote home is packed with cat memorabilia as well as toys for her own pets

Collection: Ms Buchner now owns more than 364 cat themed items, including these ornaments

'But I have never been one to care about what people say or think anyway, especially when it has anything to my cats and the unusual relationship I have with them.

'Obviously I don't have sex with my cats. It's just pure, spiritual unconditional love on both sides, as simple as that. As long as I'm happy with it, I don't care.'

So devoted is Ms Buchner to her feline husbands, she says she would never marry again if they died - whether to a cat or a human.

'If Lugosi and Spider died, I would never marry another cat,' she explains. 'They're my first cats and no other cat in future can change that.

'If a man ever approaches me, I just tell them straight off: "Sorry, I'm married to my cats".'

She says that married life with her moggies is easy. 'As much as my relationship with my ex worked in the first few years, he then became lazy.

'I'd come home and his clothes would be strewn on the living room floor. I was always cleaning up after him. My relationship with Lugosi and Spider is different because I accept that they're cats.

'They can't take me to the hospital if I'm ill and they can't make me dinner. They're my companions.'

Accessories: Her wallets, purses, a ruler and even a set of coasters come emblazoned with cats

Reminder: Ms Buchner, a web designer, has a mouse mat covered in pictures of her two pet cats

Wearable cats: Ms Buchner also has an impressively large shoe collection - all covered with cat pictures

Ms Buchner does, however, admit to spoiling her pets. 'I make sure my cats eat better than me,' she confesses. 'I want them to stay healthy so I've put them on a pricey, raw meat diet.

'Due to that, their food is far more expensive than mine. One cat's meals cost £17 per week. I also mix vitamin powder into their food which retails at £50 per bag.

'I would take out a loan to save my cats or borrow money if they needed an operation. There's no limit to what I'd do.

'If someone abused my cats, I would do something serious to them. I wouldn't kill the abuser though because then I would have to go to jail and my cats wouldn't have me anymore.

'If there was a volcano eruption or a tsunami and I was told to evacuate without cats, I wouldn't listen. I'd stay behind with Lugosi and Spider.'

While Ms Buchner might be the only human involved, she says there is a definite hierarchy within her unusual marriage.

'Lugosi and Spider are twins from the same litter but they are totally different,' she explains. 'They're so unique.

'Lugosi is the boss whilst Spider is the submissive, gentle soul. There's definitely a pecking order between us all!'

Her love of cats isn't confined to her husbands either, with Ms Buchner cramming more than 364 cat-themed items into her one-bedroom flat.

Among them is a 'catified' toilet seat and a wardrobe of outfits decorated with pictures of felines.

'I have a cat-dar for cat stuff,' she adds. 'It's an ongoing thing and I sometimes buy feline-themed things every day. I know that altogether I've spent thousands of pounds on my cat stuff.'

Now she hopes to show the world that her marriage to Lugosi and Spider is a positive partnership - with nothing untoward involved.

'There is nothing perverse or disgusting about my union with my cats,' she explains. 'Lugosi and Spider have been my constant companions for 14 years, making it the longest relationship I have ever had with anyone.