Pets to help with loneliness

Does anybody keep pets to provide company/friendship?  I basically only have one friend outside work, who I don't get to see very often, and live hundreds of miles away from my family.  So I tend to get very lonely, especially at weekends.

I'm thinking about getting some animal company to provide a bit of company and fun around my flat, and several people have recommended rats.  It seems a good idea as they're fairly cheap to keep, small enough that I could keep two (I wouldn't want to leave one on its own all day), and apparently very tame and loving.  I could also fit a decent-sized rat cage in front of my window, which faces North so they'd get plenty of natural light but not too hot.  People who've kept them tell me that they're a bit like little dogs: a lot smarter and friendlier than their bad press suggests, and happy to cuddle in your arms while you're reading etc.

The idea of having animals (other than spiders, moths, and the occassional silverfish) in the flat would take some getting used to with my cleanliness obsession, but it does seem like something that could help.  Instead of coming home to an empty flat I'd come home to a couple of little friends.  And I could know that every single weekend I could spend as much time with good friends as I liked, albeit small and furry ones.

Does this sound realistic to those of you who keep pets or am I taking too much of a rose tinted view?

Zem :)