Shiba Inu made famous by viral ‘doge’ meme dies after cancer battle

Cheems Balltze, the viral Shiba Inu dog who inspired the “doge” meme, has died at the age of 12 after a battle with cancer.

The internet-famous dog, known for his adorable smile and love of cheeseburgers, passed away on Friday (18 Friday) after falling asleep during a thoracentesis surgery, his owner wrote on social media. The Shiba Inu, also known as “Ball Ball,” was set to receive further chemotherapy treatment for leukaemia.

“He fell asleep on Friday morning during his last thoracentesis surgery. Originally, we wanted to arrange chemotherapy or other possible treatment for him after this operation, but it is too late now,” his owner said on Instagram.

However, she asked fans not to be “sad” but to “remember the joy that Balltze brought to the world”.

“A Shiba Inu with a round smiling face connecting you and me, he has helped many people during the pandemic and brought a lot of joy to many of you, but now his mission has completed,” she said. “I believe he is running freely in the sky and having a lot of delicious food with his new friends. He will always be inside my heart. I hope he can continue to bring joy to everyone in the online world, that’s my only humble request.”

His owner also took the opportunity to thank the medical staff who helped Ball Ball over the past six months of his cancer battle.

“All of you have been very generous and helpful, and I’m truly grateful to all of you. Your love and support to Ball Ball is so unconditional and I found that is the purest love in the world. Having Ball Ball in my life is the best thing ever happened,” she continued, before adding that the donation funds she collected for Ball Ball’s medical bills will be given to local animal charities.

“Thank you everyone, thank you,” she said. “Balltze knows how much he was loved by all of you.”

The viral meme rose to internet fame in 2010, when a photo of a Shiba Inu dog crossing its paws was overlaid with scattered comic sans text - depicting what could be the pet’s inner monologue. Internet users quickly started referring to the image as “doge,” and it even spawned a new cryptocurrency - “Dogecoin” - in 2013.

While there have been many Doge memes over the years, Balltze became the subject of the popular meme format in 2017, when his owner posted a photo of him sitting on the floor to her Instagram. Two years later, the meme went viral when a Reddit user reposted the photo to the r/dogelore subreddit, with the caption “Cheemsburbger”. He was also famous for the “Swole Doge vs Cheems” meme, which depicts a comically muscular dog alongside a smaller Shibu Inu dog.

Ball Ball was adopted by his owner Kathy, a fashion designer who lives in Hong Kong, at one year old. Last December, she revealed that the popular dog was diagnosed with cancer.