KABOSU became an internet sensation in 2013 after a picture of the dog started being used as a meme.
The pet’s popularity led to the dogecoin cryptocurrency and even sparked the creation of meme coin rival Shiba Inu.
But how old is Kabosu and who is her owner?
How old is Kabosu?
Kabosu is 17 years old. The famous dog was born in November 2005.
However, it was not until the dog was eight years old that she became an internet sensation.
While Kabosu was born in 2005, the meme which made her popular came from a picture taken in 2010 and first started being widely circulated online in 2012.
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Who is Kabosu’s owner?
Kabosu was adopted in 2008 by a Japanese nursery school teacher called Atsuko Sato.
The 59-year-old and her dog live in the city of Chiba about 40km east of Tokyo.
Sato adopted Kabosu at the age of three after the puppy mill she had been living at shut down.
The shiba inu‘s owner said in 2013 that her decision to adopt the dog almost certainly saved her from being put down.
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“She was a pedigreed dog from a puppy mill, and when the puppy mill closed down, she was abandoned along with 19 other shiba dogs,” she said.
“Some of them were adopted, but the rest of them were killed.”
The photo which first made Kabosu famous came from a blog that Sato set up in Jun 2009 to share updates on her pet’s life.
It is now one of the largest blogs in the world. Sato only became aware of Kabosu’s popularity as a meme when she noticed an image of her tog that she had taken on another website in 2013.
How ill is Kabosu?
On Christmas Eve 2022, Sato announced that Kabosu was sick.
The shiba inu was said to have lymphoma leukaemia, a type of cancer, and acute cholangiohepatitis, which impacts the liver and bile ducts.
The condition meant Kabosu was unable to eat or drink, with the dog’s owner describing the situation as “very dangerous”.
However, despite fears the meme sensation had just days left to live, in the days since she has recovered and is now finishing her meals and eating again.
Kabosu is even now able to go on short walks again.
