This is just the saddest news. Ugh. Marty, the real life inspiration for internet meme superstar Nyan cat, has died. His owner, Nyan Cat creator Christopher Torres, tweeted that Marty died yesterday at the age of 3, following a brief illness. Am I the only one already teary-eyed?
Marty had FIP a totally horrible cat disease. He was diagnosed only last week. "I was seriously hoping to nurse him back to health but FIP is pretty much a death sentence to most cats. There is no known cure," Torres said. Okay now I'm totally just crying my eyes out. Marty's brother also died from the disease.
Marty and his brother Buster, were adopted in 2010 and in April of 2011, Torres posted his now famous 8-bit animation of the poptart cat, inspired by Marty, on LOL-COMICS. It quickly took off but really went viral when YouTuber saraj00n combined the animation with Japanese Vocaloid song Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya. Marty was internet famous. He didn't let his internet fame go to his head though. Because he was chill like that.
Here's a pic of Marty as a kitten, in case you weren't crying hard enough yet.
Even though Marty is gone, his memory will surely live on. Nyan cat is internet royalty and always will be. RIP sweet kitty...imma go hug my kitties right now.
I insist that you check out Marty's full story told through Torres' tweets here. Don't forget a box of Kleenex. I'm totally not kidding.
