Famous internet meme Cheems, also known as Balltze by the owners, has passed away at the age of 12 years during lung surgery because of a tumor. It is said by the owners of the dog on their Instagram that the dog fell asleep on August 8th of 2023 and is never waking up as the owners of the dog were upset.

Although most were saddened by the depressing news to the people who followed Balltze, the owner reassured that “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 joyto many of you, but now his mission has completed.” The many reactions that came along with the passing of Balltze were positive as many people on the instagram post were cheering for the dog such as @priyaadivarekar on twitter “Forever in our hearts 🌈 💗 Always brought in so much joy on my feed. Rest easy, Balltze #Cheems” and @madan3 with “The Famous Meme Dog Cheems has passed away. 👑”.

Cheems was known for his hysterical look on one funny image that plastered his face all over the internet. That one image being the infamous “Cheems” photo which can be seen to the left. This image sparked an immediate love for the dog since it was partially edited and the hilarious reaction from the dog helped gain a following. Cheems was an internet sensation and followed it up with the many memes which grew the following of the dog to evermore heights. The name Cheems came from the dog’s love for cheeseburgers.

The dog is a Shiba Inu breed and had lived in Hong Kong and grew to fame around 2017. The edit that made him famous was the Swole Doge vs Cheems, Doge being another famous Shiba Inu breed that was famous back in 2012, Cheems being depicted as the smaller more weaker opinion and Doge being the right and based opinion such as images like his by @planty_hoes below.