The dog behind the iconic Cheems Doge meme has sadly died

The iconic dog behind the Cheems Doge meme has sadly died.

The dog's name was Balltze (also affectionately known as Ball Ball) but adopted the name Cheems because of its love for cheeseburgers.

The pup became an online sensation off the back of another iconic Shiba Inu who was the inspiration behind the Doge meme.

That honour goes to a dog named Kabosu, who became the face of Dogecoin.

Balltze was known for such meme hits as Boink and Swole Dog vs Cheems.

According to KnowYourMeme, 'memes featuring Cheems are usually based upon the character humorously misspelling various words, particularly by including extra M letters'.

He first appeared on the Reddit page /r/dogelore in June 2019 and has been a popular meme ever since.

Kathy, the owner of the dog, has revealed in a devastating statement on social media why the pooch died.

"Ball Ball fell asleep on 18/8. He fell asleep on Friday morning during his last thoracentesis surgery," she wrote.

"Originally, we wanted to arrange chemotherapy or other possible treatment for him after this operation, but it is too late now don’t be sad, please remember the joy that Balltze brought to the world.

"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 joy to many of you, but now his mission has completed.

"I believe he is running freely in the sky and having a lot of delicious food with his new friends.

"He will always be inside my heart.

"I hope he can continue to bring joy to everyone in the online world, that’s my only humble request."

She praised the vets who have helped Cheems in the last few months of his life and said they were 'very generous' and 'helpful'.

Kathy added a final message to fans, saying: "Your love and support to Ball Ball is so unconditional and I found that is the purest love in the world, having Ball Ball in my life is the best thing ever happened.

"Thank you everyone, thank you, Balltze knows how much he was loved by all of you."

It was revealed in May last year that Ball Ball had been throwing up and having diarrhoea and was diagnosed with pancreatitis.

It's devastating to know the dog won't be around anymore, however he will always live on in memes posted onto the internet.