Kabosu, the Japanese dog who inspired the Doge meme and influenced internet culture for more than a decade, has died after a long illness, according to her owner. She was 18 years old.
Her owner, Atsuko Sato, said Kabosu passed away at 7:50 a.m. on Friday when she fell into a “deep sleep” at her home. “Kabosu is at rest now,” she wrote in a blog post on her website.
Sato wrote: “Through the window, the soft light shining in. Outside the window, birds singing on a beautiful morning. As I caressed her, as if she was sleeping, she passed away quietly.”
“Everyone who loved Kabosu, thank you very much. Kabosu was the happiest dog in the world.And I was the happiest dog owner in the world,” she said. “Kabosu is still smiling and laughing, smiling and wagging her tail, snuggling up to me. I’m sure she still is.”
Kabosu was a female Shiba Inu dog who was adopted by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato in 2008. Photos of the dog went viral on Reddit in 2010 and have been shared over the years as a meme called Doge.
A picture of Kabosu is also used as the logo for the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. And in April 2023, Elon Musk briefly changed the Twitter/X’s logo to an image of Kabosu, causing the price of the cryptocurrency to surge.
Kabosu had been in poor health for several years. In December 2022, her owner announced that Kabosu had been diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitis and chronic lymphoma leukemia after she stopped eating and drinking. Her condition later improved.
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