What happens after your pet, a social media sensation, dies?
When Your Internet-Famous Pet Passes: Navigating Public Grief
Activelifezero.com – Millions of followers followed along as Simon, a seven-year-old Jindo-mix, made his way toward his final moments. Isabel Klee, who called the dog her “soulmate,” shared that Simon passed away surrounded by the same love and attention that characterized his life. While Klee fostered other dogs, Simon remained faithfully by her side, earning a reputation among his online community as a calm, reassuring presence for nervous animals entering their home.
Following Klee’s announcement of Simon’s passing on July 25, social media erupted with tributes. The little dog had received a cancer diagnosis in May, and before saying farewell, he enjoyed a special breakfast featuring steak and chocolate. Followers reflected deeply on how Simon and Klee’s journey had impacted their own lives. One person shared that the experience inspired them to begin fostering, while another noted that animals like Simon teach their caretakers “how to be a grownup.”
When It’s Time to Let Go
Klee had been preparing to discuss her story with CNN when Simon’s condition deteriorated. The following day, she took to social media to reveal that she and her fiancé, Jacob Zerhusen, had made the difficult decision to allow their cherished companion to pass. Pet influencers certainly bring happiness to online audiences, but Klee and Simon’s experience serves as a poignant reminder that this joy carries boundaries. Even celebrated animals cannot live as long as their human companions and devoted followers hope they might.
Yet these losses unite communities of followers and help them develop a deeper understanding of pet grief. For the humans managing pet influencer accounts, sorrow becomes a communal experience rather than a solitary one. Most followers never met their favorite animal in person, yet they feel the loss as though it were their own.
It has been the privilege of my life to care for Noodle these past 7 years. The sweetest man there has ever been and will ever be.
Learning to Grieve in Public
Jonathan Graziano, whose geriatric pug Noodle became a major social media phenomenon before passing in 2022, understood this dynamic well. “I knew that the people were mourning this dog with me, then my close friends and the people who knew Noodle were able to actually mourn my pet,” Graziano explained. “I was able to separate that.”
Noodle, adopted by Graziano at age seven, achieved viral fame in 2021 through TikTok videos showing the pug deciding whether to rise from bed each morning. In these clips, Graziano would ask Noodle if it was a “bones or no bones day.” Graziano navigated a similar path to Klee and Zerhusen when determining whether to end their dog’s suffering. “That was a wild experience,” Graziano recalled, noting he received “everything he wanted” regarding Noodle’s peaceful departure. “It was the combination of having to do the whole end-of-life experience with Noodle, go through that and come to terms with that on my own as just someone who loved him and took care of him.”
Thomas Shapiro shares a similar perspective and knows precisely what Klee is experiencing. Shapiro and his husband, Louis, have already walked through this journey. Their Italian greyhound, Tika—whom Vogue described as a “new fashion It girl”—passed away last year at fourteen years old. Tika accumulated millions of fans, including celebrities like Drew Barrymore and Celine Dion.
When she turned 10, that’s when you’re kind of hit with that reality that your dog is really a senior dog.
Shapiro recalled how anticipatory grief began years before Tika’s actual passing. “So I think ever since she was 10, I kind of treated each day very special — because you’re not really guaranteed much time after that milestone,” he explained.
The Shapiros worked to provide Tika with a gentle transition. Last September, with two young children and another greyhound named Kala now part of their household, they withdrew Tika from Fashion Week events and brand partnerships so she could enjoy her remaining days. Unfortunately, this proved insufficient. An aggressive cancer claimed her life quickly. Shapiro waited three days before informing his followers, a period he now feels was too brief for processing his emotions before facing public mourning. “I didn’t know how to tell everyone, because I knew I had to — not only is that factually the truth, but part of what makes Tika’s Instagram so great for me is we built such a great community, and people genuinely really care about my dog and me, which is still quite unfathomable to me that people do care,” he said. “I knew I owed it to them to tell them.”
Being a pet influencer certainly offers financial rewards. Klee’s fame for her
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