Rescue dog who inspired 'Doge' meme is seriously ill

Rescue dog who inspired ‘Doge’ meme is seriously ill: Internet sensation who counts Elon Musk among her fans has leukemia and liver disease, her heartbroken owner reveals

• The Shiba Inu, called Kabosu, has been ‘dangerously’ ill over Christmas period 
• Owner Atsuko Satō told her Instagram followers Kabosu was taken to the vet 
• Dog diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitis and chronic lymphoma leukemia
• Kabosu is famously known as the dog that appears on the face of Dogecoin 
• The cryptocurrency, backed by Elon Musk, was created as a ‘joke’ back in 2013 

The real-life dog behind the face of Dogecoin is seriously ill, her owner has revealed. 

The Shiba Inu, called Kabosu, who became famous when Dogecoin creators Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer used her face on its cryptocurrency coin, fell ‘dangerously’ ill over the Christmas period. 

Taking to Instagram, the dog’s owner Atsuko Satō revealed that her beloved pet, who is now aged 17, was taken to the vet the day after Christmas. 

The Shiba Inu, called Kabosu, fell ‘dangerously’ ill over the Christmas period

The currency, launched in 2013, is considered the first ‘meme coin’ and ‘dog coin’.

‘Apparently the situation is very dangerous,’ the kindergarten teacher, who lives in Japan with Kabosu, wrote. 

‘But it will be alright. It’s going to be alright. Because we get our power from all over the world! Thank you very much everyone.’

She added that Kabosu stopped drinking or eating on Christmas Eve, prompting the visit to the vet. She has also reported that Kabosu has been moving around more slowly recently. 

According to a later post, Kabosu has acute cholangiohepatitis and chronic lymphoma leukemia and has been prescribed antibiotics. 

Kabosu has a huge Instagram following with more than 400,000 followers watching her antics and seeing sweet images shared by her owner. 

Kabosu leapt into the public eye in 2010 when her owner shared an image online of her beloved dog laying on a couch looking concerns. From there, the internet took over, transforming Kabosu into a meme of her own right, complete with doge talk – ‘much wow, so concern’ and so on. 

Dogecoin creator Billy Markus admitted last year that he created the coin as a joke, and that it was ‘amusing’ to see Elon Musk promoting it

Since then, the rescue dog has racked up a huge following and is now instantly recognisable.  

‘Never in a million years would I have imagined the impact that my photoshoot of Kabosu would have on the internet,’ her owner previously wrote on Instagram.

‘It’s a moment that’s evolved and taken on a life of its own over the last decade — being shared millions of times and creating an entire community around the Doge meme.’

The Dogecoin currency was officially launched in 2013 by software engineers Markus and Palmer, who decided to create a payment system as a joke. The currency is considered the first ‘meme coin’ and ‘dog coin’. 

But in recent years, it has become a valuable asset following the endorsement of Twitter owner Elon Musk. 

In April 2021, Dogecoin traded as high as $0.346254 after Musk appeared on Saturday Night Live and declared himself ‘the Dogefather’. 

Musk (pictured) has repeatedly promoted the cryptocurrency on his social media and on TV appearances, coinciding with a rise in interest in the ‘meme coin’

Prices shot up by 40 per cent the following year, in April 2022, amid expectation that Musk was going to incorporate the ‘joke’ cryptocurrency into Twitter after he purchased the site for $44billion.

Last year, Markus confirmed that the coin had been invented as a joke. 

‘I’m half detached, but it’s weird that something I made in a few hours is now part of internet culture,’ he said. 

‘It’s amusing to see Elon Musk talk about it. It feels silly, but there’s this huge upwelling behind it.’ 

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