While spending countless hours browsing TikTok for the our daily dose of pet therapy, we couldn’t help but notice the tornado of fur named “Atchoum The Cat” (@atchoumthecat). To our surprise, he wasn’t a scruffy dog, he’s a very wooly Persian cat.
Looking wise beyond his year, Atchoumthecat has a very rare congenital condition called hypertrichosis. Also known as the “werewolf syndrome”, Atchoum dons his furry mask well and he has raised awareness around the condition for hundreds of thousands of followers. Hypertrichosis causes fast and non-stop growth of hair. It also leads to his claws getting thicker (we know people who would pay for that). As a result, Atchoum needs continual trims and he had to be declawed. This hasn’t slowed him down one bit though.
Based on his origin story, Atchoumthecat was given to a vet in Repentigny, Quebec where he later met his mom, Nathalie. She adopted the furball after a weekend together and it’s been a match ever since. That’s just the beginning. His unique look quickly drew the attention of thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands, and finally article features in Buzzfeed, Mashable, and People Magazine.
Make sure to take a moment to admire Atchoumthecat’s fierce coat and find a furball of your own to cuddle up with. Follow his channels on his Website, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.