THE dog behind the viral “Doge” meme is suffering from leukaemia and liver disease, according to her owner.
The shibu inu, named Kabosu, is in “dangerous condition.” Her owner, Atsuko Sato, a teacher who lives in Japan, shared the news in several Instagram posts this week, reports NBC.
Kabosu was diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitis, a liver condition, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of blood cancer, Sato said in a post Tuesday.
She said Kabosu also appeared to have jaundice and was taking antibiotics.
They visited a hospital the day before Christmas, and that night Kabosu stopped eating and drinking, Sato said in a post this week. On Tuesday, she posted that Kabosu's appetite returned and that she could drink water.
Sato said she and Kabosu are encouraged by the support shown by their fans worldwide.
Kabosu became an Internet sensation after Sato posted a photo of her pup to her blog in 2010.
The photo, which has Kabosu smirking with her paws crossed, was popular on Tumblr and Reddit in the 2010s. A Reddit user referred to the picture as "Doge," thus giving rise to the “doge” meme.
The meme is often produced with the image of Kabosu surrounded by broken English phrases like “Wow. So scare” and “What r u doing?”
Sato has said she was shocked that the photo grew so popular. She never suspected that particular image would make her pet famous.
“When I first found out about the Kabosu memes, I was very surprised. I was terrified at the thought that just one photo I had casually posted on my blog could spread all over the world to places I didn’t know,” Sato said in a statement.
With the rise of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency fashioned after the meme, "Doge" had a comeback on the Internet.
Last year, the iconic “Doge” meme sold as a non-fungible token for a whopping US$4 million (about RM17.59 million). – Agencies, December 30, 2022
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