Balltze, the beloved Shiba Inu immortalized in Doge memes as the character Cheems (a "cheemsburger" loving dog), is sick with pancreatitis. In an Instagram post yesterday, his owner Kathy announced that Cheems was first diagnosed with pancreatitis earlier this month after he kept puking and having diarrhea.

According to the Instagram post's description, Balltze recently underwent a second blood test, with results "better than the first one." His owner wrote, "[Balltze] is still hunger for food and energetic but not as active as before," and said she was nervous to share the news as she doesn't want any of Balltze's followers and friends to worry too much.

The post has since gained over 48,000 likes and an outpouring of well wishes in under 24 hours as people wish Balltze a speedy recovery. A post has also been made to the /r/dogelore subreddit sharing the news, which has gained over 2,600 upvotes and a similar flood of support in the comments. Cheems is a staple character on the subreddit and in Dogelore in general, where users share comics and memes featuring notable internet dogs.

In August 2020, we interviewed Kathy and Balltze where she told us he was adopted 10 years ago after her friend's friend wanted to emigrate and leave Hong Kong.

"He entrusted his friends to ask if anyone was interested in adopting a young Shiba Inu," Kathy said. "Recalling the first time we saw Balltze, he was naughty and very energetic. Although we knew that my mother didn't want any pets, we still decided to take him home. My mother didn't really like Balltze at the beginning, but after years of getting along, Balltze is already my mother's darling, just like her youngest grandson [laughs]."