Nobiko, Japan’s Famous ‘Longcat’, Passes Away at 18

Nobiko’s owner, Miko, made the heartbreaking announcement via Twitter, according to Know Your Meme.

Nobiko was found lying in a weak state by her owner and was later taken to the hospital, where she passed away at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

The cat was adopted by Miko in 2002. She was “thin and messy” after she was found, but a bath revealed a “snow-white” beautiful cat.

“Mr. Nobiko was deaf and couldn’t hear any sound, so she might have slept in the middle of the road,” Miko said. “I’m really glad that [we were] able to protect her before she was hit by a car.”

Nobiko gained massive online fame after appearing on the message board 2chan between 2004 and 2005. She eventually became a meme where she appeared in several edited pictures and became known as Longcat.

Her online moniker holds some truth. Nobiko was considered to be really tall standing at 65 centimeters (25.5 inches), Independent reported.

She skyrocketed to fame, with fans developing lore of fights involving her doppelganger Tacgnol and characters fans created such as Catnarok.

Many of Nobiko’s fans used social media to express their sadness.

The feline joins other internet-famous animals, such as Grumpy Cat, who died last year.

Feature Image via @aerosubaru