A husband and father of two in India has abandoned his family to live full time with his cows, who he thanks for saving his life.

Vijay Parsana, 44, is so obsessed with his cows he bathes, eats, watches television and shares his bed with them. He even drinks their urine and dung claiming its good for his health and that he once survived for 22 days on cow’s urine alone.

The father of two left his family five years back and started living in a religious retreat, about four miles away from his home in Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, India, to spend time with his cows.

Earlier this year he spent £20,000 on a wedding for two of his herd, and unbelievably his family appear to be fully behind his new life.

When Vijay first moved to Ahmedabad he fell into gambling but when he started spending time with his cows he changed.

Vijay also owns two bulls, six dogs and more than 2,000 other animals including peacocks, rabbits, birds and snakes but he says that his three cows, Radha, Poonam and Saraswati hold a special place in his heart.