<p>Kabosu, the shiba inu who inspired the 'doge' meme has died at the age of 18. </p><p>The dog had been suffering from leukaemia and liver disease. </p><p>An Instagram story was put up bidding farewell to Kabosu. Sato, a teacher in Japan, took Kabosu in back in 2008, when she was sent to an animal shelter after the puppy mill she was in was shut down. </p>.<p>Kabosu turned into an internet sensation when a 2010 image of her with crossed paws and a small smirk started doing the rounds on Tumblr and Reddit. </p><p>On Reddit, a user referred to the image as 'doge', which was an intentional misspelling of the word dog in a nod to the 2005 episode of <em>Homestar Runner</em>.</p><p>The meme gained popularity in 2013 where a coloured Comic Sans text is placed over the photo along the lines of 'Much wow' and 'so scare' surrounding the late Kabosu. </p><p>The 'Doge' meme was sold in 2021 as a non-fungible token (NFT) for $4 million. </p><p>Kabosu is also the face of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, which was initially created as a 'joke' currency and is the sleeve sponsor of the Watford Football Club. </p><p>Elon Musk has shown a fondness for Dogecoin, and made the logo the icon for the Twitter home button for some time in April. </p>
<p>Kabosu, the shiba inu who inspired the 'doge' meme has died at the age of 18. </p><p>The dog had been suffering from leukaemia and liver disease. </p><p>An Instagram story was put up bidding farewell to Kabosu. Sato, a teacher in Japan, took Kabosu in back in 2008, when she was sent to an animal shelter after the puppy mill she was in was shut down. </p>.<p>Kabosu turned into an internet sensation when a 2010 image of her with crossed paws and a small smirk started doing the rounds on Tumblr and Reddit. </p><p>On Reddit, a user referred to the image as 'doge', which was an intentional misspelling of the word dog in a nod to the 2005 episode of <em>Homestar Runner</em>.</p><p>The meme gained popularity in 2013 where a coloured Comic Sans text is placed over the photo along the lines of 'Much wow' and 'so scare' surrounding the late Kabosu. </p><p>The 'Doge' meme was sold in 2021 as a non-fungible token (NFT) for $4 million. </p><p>Kabosu is also the face of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, which was initially created as a 'joke' currency and is the sleeve sponsor of the Watford Football Club. </p><p>Elon Musk has shown a fondness for Dogecoin, and made the logo the icon for the Twitter home button for some time in April. </p>
