Shiba Inu dog Kabosu, a meme hero and mascot of the DOGE cryptocurrency, has died at the age of 18, after 14 years of Internet fame. The animal suffered from leukemia and liver failure.

The pet's owner, 62-year-old Atsuko Sato, in an address to Kabosu's fans, said that the dog's disease was discovered at the end of 2022. However, “an invisible force and the prayers of fans from all over the world” helped keep him alive.

Sato adopted the animal from a kennel in 2008. Two years later, in 2010, the owner took a photograph of her pet crossing her paws on the sofa. The woman posted the photo on her blog on Reddit, where it went viral, becoming a meme.

The photo inspired two software engineers, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, to create the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, which was initially seen as a joke. DOGE is now traded on major exchanges, ranking eighth in cryptocurrency market capitalization at $23 billion. Memtokens have become very popular, and other dog-themed coins have emerged, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Floki (FLOKI).

“The night before she died, she ate rice and drank a lot of water as usual. The next day, Kabosu died peacefully in her sleep, with me always by her side and gently stroking her. Kabosu was the happiest dog in the world, and we felt like the happiest people raising such a pet,” wrote the dog’s owner.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is considered one of the most active fans of DOGE. The billionaire periodically publishes tweets about DOGE on X, which has repeatedly led to a sharp increase in the coin’s value. In 2022, Musk called DOGE “the people's cryptocurrency” that could be used for daily payments.