TELLURIDE, Colo. - A Colorado dog known for its odd friendship with a cat and a rat has died.

Boulder street busker Greg Pike owned the strange trio of animals who performed on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall and across the country.

Mall visitors would see Mousie the rat riding on top of Kitty the cat riding on top of Booger the dog.

However, Booger, 13, died Monday night from kidney and liver failure at a veterinary clinic in Telluride, according to the Boulder Daily Camera.

The dog-cat-rat act started on a whim, Pike told the newspaper.

One day in a Telluride park, Pike and some others were discussing the limits of what's possible, and he bet that he could get a dog, cat and rat to get along and he did.

Pike took the animals all across the U.S., embarking on a road trip eight years ago, he said, that took him from San Francisco to New York City to Key West, Fla.

A YouTube video titled "Dog, Cat and Rat" featuring Pike and his animals has been viewed more than 9.75 million times. (See the video below.)

In the video, Pike said that the message behind the act was to ask the question of "why can't the human race just get along?"

Pike said he plans to work as a ski lift operator in Telluride this winter to raise money for his next adventure. He said he will focus on animals and bringing joy to people, but there will not be another dog-cat-rat act.