The Internet Can't Decide If This Is A Dog Or A Cat

Her.- do you have a dog or a cat?
me.- I don't know. pic.twitter.com/0AXxHNDl8S

— n2o (@1evilidiot) November 4, 2016

Take a good look at this scruffy, gray-and-white fur face. Sure, it's definitively adorable...but does it belong to a dog or a cat?

The internet can't decide — and much like with the blue and black vs. white and gold dress, or the shiny legs vs. white paint optical illusions that dominated news feeds for days, this viral photo of an enigmatic animal named Atchoum has ignited an online phenomenon.

The great debate began last week, when Twitter user n2o innocently posted a picture of Atchoum with the caption "Her. - 'do you have a dog or a cat?' Me. - 'I don't know.'" Poof: more than 13,000 retweets and one article in the Daily Mail later, the origin of this furry fellow has become a subject of international fascination. (Because when you need a break from politics, cute and cuddly animals are always there for you.)

Baffled Twitter users quickly chimed in to defend their takes.

@1evilidiot I've been thinking about this all day and I think it's a dog

— Paige (@mysnah96) November 5, 2016

@1evilidiot Science has finally achieved the cat/dog hybrid.

— Kimberley (@beyzoar) November 4, 2016

@1evilidiot @miss_vivienne it's an owl.

— (((FreebieBean))) (@FreebieBean) November 4, 2016

@1evilidiot @myBIGGheartxoxo It's neither. What you have there is clearly a lorax. pic.twitter.com/0Bh2TxBtQI

— Agent Smith (@anonycraig) November 6, 2016

@1evilidiot The eyes never lie. Those are cats eyes.

— Randy Hudson ツ (@noonefollowsme) November 5, 2016

Point, Twitter user Randy Hudson and everyone else who was unabashedly Team Cat: you are correct. Atchoum is indeed a cat — and a very active one, at that. He has his own website and a presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr. A Persian cat from Quebec, Canada, to be specific, Atchoum looks the way he does because he has a rare disease called hypertricosis (also known as werewolf syndrome), which causes him to grow a lot of hair at a fast rate and thickens his claws.

Mystery officially solved.

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