Is Kabosu still alive? Death of viral meme dog Cheems explained

According to a recent social media update, Kabosu is still alive. However, as per the owners' confirmation on Saturday via Instagram, Cheems, or Balltze, the puppy that became famous online and the subject of numerous memes, has reportedly passed away.

Shiba Inu dog Balltze, who was 12 years old and went by his own name, had been battling pancreatic cancer for the past four months. The owner of Cheems shared the heartbreaking news early on the morning of Saturday, August 19, 2023, on Instagram, writing:

“Don’t be sad, please 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 been completed”.

However, the photo that's making rounds on several social media platforms are apparently of Kabosu and not Balltze. There are two dogs of the same breed and there are two pages dedicated to making dog memes, hence the confusion.

On August 19, X (formerly known as Twitter) user @penbbles uploaded a post claiming that the dog from the viral meme is still alive. The caption of the post read:

“CHEEMS IS NOT DOGE!!! the doge dog is still alive and her name is kabosu!!!!”

The post that claims the wrong dog has been thought to be dead (Image via X / @penbbles)

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A X user claimed that Kabosu is not the dog who died

The dog named Puppy Balltze, also known as Cheems, was the subject of many popular dog memes and other viral social media posts. But the owner reportedly said that he passed away at the age of 12 following a battle with cancer.

They are of the same breed (Image via Instagram / balltze / kabosumama)

On Friday, August 18, Cheems was undergoing his final round of thoracentesis surgery when he passed away. In the above-embedded Instagram post from the account of balltze, the owner stated that after the surgery, arrangements were made to start chemotherapy or other therapies, but "it is too late now."

"Ball Ball fell asleep on 8/18. He fell asleep Friday morning during his last thoracentesis surgery... Originally, we wanted to arrange chemotherapy or other possible treatment for him after this surgery, but now it's too late."

They also announced the news on different social media platforms. However, a confusion rose as the photos of Kabosu started to circulate and not of Balltze. A recent X account claimed that the former is not the dog who died, it was Balltze.

The account also shared a wikipedia link that claimed the Cheems meme featured a dog named Balltze, while the doge meme features Kabosu. Since they are both Shiba Inu dogs, it gave rise to the entire confusion. Hence, to reiterate, the dog that actually passed away was Balltze, the one from the Cheems meme, not the other Shiba Inu that some netizens have confused with.

The links provided with the post that says Kabosu is alive (Image via X / @penbbles)

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Although both are Shiba Inu dogs, Kabosu and Balltze were different

An online meme called 'doge' gained popularity in 2013. The above-embedded Instagram post of Kabosu, a female Shiba Inu dog, usually appears in those memes. This dog, depicted in the original post, was transferred to an animal sanctuary after her puppy mill closed. Atsuko Sato, a Japanese kindergarten teacher, adopted her in 2008 and gave her the name after the citrus fruit.

On the other hand, the Cheems dog memes, which feature images or animations of Cheems, are a wildly popular type of memes going around on social media. The dogs are shown in these absurd and entertaining circumstances. Balltze is the name of the puppy that appeared in these Cheems dog memes.

Early in the 2013, Cheems' initial photo went viral, setting the stage for the dog to become well-known on a variety of social media sites.