RIP Cheems: Meme Dog Balltze Dead at 12; Look Back At Pet Celebrity's Meme Timeline

The owner of the male dog named Balltze, known online as Cheems, announced his death at the age of 12 Friday (Aug. 18).

In an Instagram post, Balltze's Hong Kong-based owner said the male Shiba Inu, who became famous on the internet as a meme template, passed away Friday morning while undergoing thoracentesis surgery.

"Don't be sad," his owner wrote. "[P]lease remember the joy that Balltze brought to the world."

The Life and Fame of Cheems

According to the website, Balltze was born on January 9, 2011, but his rise to fame started in 2015 at the age of 4 after his owner, only known as Kathy as of this report, decided to open his own Instagram account for her to take pictures of him and his daily mood.

He was widely known as Cheems after Kathy took a picture of him showing what appeared to be a slight grin in a 2017 Instagram photo. Soon after his owner shared his photo, an Instagram user named Josh commented whether he "[looked] like Cheese," without any further context.

Thus, Cheems was born.

Kathy eventually created a website and merch store based on her dog's famous pose. One of the items being sold there was the "100% Good Boi" shirt, which the site said all proceeds of the sale would be fully donated to Lifelong Animal Protection (LAP), a Hong Kong-based charity dedicated to helping people foster and adopt pets into their homes.

Sickness, Death, and Legacy

It was revealed that Balltze, also known as Ball Ball by Kathy, was diagnosed with cancer and has undergone multiple surgeries in the six months leading to his death, as per Unilad. Originally, she and her family would like to arrange chemotherapy or other possible treatments for the dog after the operation, the owner added.

Balltze was typically paired in memes with a Japan-based female Shiba Inu named Kabosu, known in the meme community as Doge, and in extension, became the face of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Kabosu herself was diagnosed with chronic lymphoma leukemia, a type of cancer, and acute cholangiohepatitis, an inflammatory condition of the liver and bile ducts, and almost died last December 2022 but quickly recovered.

In reaction to his death, Kabosu's account on X, formerly Twitter, shared a tribute meme to her virtual best friend in the Shiba Inu community, depicting Balltze sporting a halo and staring down from what appears to be a stairway towards the afterlife.

"Balltze's joyful spirit will always be remembered," the tweet wrote.

Other users on social media mourned Balltze's death, expressing their gratitude for the dog's iconic smile and for becoming a source of joy and laughter as a pet and a meme.