Lil Bub, officially Lil BUB (June 21, 2011 – December 1, 2019), was an American celebrity
cat known for her unique physical appearance. Her photos were first posted to
Tumblr in November 2011, before taking off after being featured on the social news website
Reddit.[3] "Lil Bub" on
Facebook has over three million
likes.[4] Lil Bub starred in Lil Bub & Friendz, a
documentary that premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013, and won the
Tribeca Online Festival Best Feature Film.
Background
Lil Bub was the
runt of her
litter born to a
feral mother.[5] She was born with several
genetic mutations, had to be bottle-fed, and had difficulty being adopted.[3][6] Lil Bub had an extreme form of
feline dwarfism that caused her limbs and lower jaw to be quite small in comparison to the rest of her body. The shortened lower jaw meant that, among other things, she could not retain her tongue within her mouth.[7] Her owner, Mike Bridavsky, adopted her when his friends asked him to give her a home. When Bridavsky first picked her up, he said "Hey, Bub!"[3][8]
Lil Bub suffered from
osteopetrosis for which she received medication.[9][10] In late 2012, during the filming of Lil Bub & Friendz, she had a serious health episode and was diagnosed with osteopetrosis by a specialist in
Indianapolis.[9][11][12] Lil Bub's short legs and osteopetrosis restricted her movement but she was termed "a fantastic waddler."[3][6][10] Vibrations from
travel also break down the
osteoclasts.[13]
A group of individuals launched a campaign on the website
Experiment.com to sequence Lil Bub's
genome.[14] The purpose of this project was to better understand Lil Bub's unique appearance (for example, her
extra digits). The campaign reached its funding goal on May 25, 2015.[14] The scientists found Lil Bub had a mutation in gene
RANK/TNFRSF11A which has also been found in one mouse and fifteen humans. Their research on Lil Bub is published at
bioRxiv.[15][16]
Bridavsky sold a variety of merchandise under the LIL BUB moniker and donated much of the profits to
animal rescue groups.[3] Some of the money also helped Bridavsky pay off six months of back rent on his
recording studio.[3] Bridavsky has a policy to not "approach anybody for anything" and chose to not sign with talent agent Ben Lashes, whose clients have included
Grumpy Cat.[17]Lil Bub’s Lil Book: The Extraordinary Life of the Most Amazing Cat on the Planet was released September 3, 2013.[3]
In May 2021, Bridavsky released a visual history coffee table book, Lil BUB: The Earth Years, with author
Aaron Tanner.[18]
Meet and greets
Bridavsky arranged "
meet and greets" for both him and Lil Bub at
animal shelters around the US. The shelters received donations and a cut of merchandise sales.[19]
Lil Bub makes an appearance in the film Nine Lives (2016) as the cat form of the film's main antagonist Ian Cox (
Mark Consuelos) after he is hit by a car and his soul goes inside the cat's body.[29]
An album was released under Lil Bub's name, with Bridavsky as producer, in 2015. The album, Science & Magic, features liner notes by
Andrew W.K. and includes recordings of Lil Bub's vocalizations interpolated into instrumental electronic music tracks.[31]
Appearance on Japanese TV
Lil Bub's life story was featured for 30 minutes during the three hour "Animal Special" episode of the Japanese TV show Experience a Miracle – Unbelievable. In this dramatization the role of Mike Bridavsky was played by New Zealand actor Gregory Snelgar.[32][33]
Lil Bub, Bridavsky, Capper and Eisner attended the Tribeca Drive-In outdoor screening at the
World Financial Center Plaza on April 20.[35][9][38] Lil Bub did a petting and photo session.[9][38] Festival co-head
Robert De Niro met Lil Bub at the Director's Brunch on April 23 after co-head
Jane Rosenthal quipped to The Hollywood Reporter "I keep saying Little Bub needs to meet Big Bob."[39][40]
On Lil Bub's second birthday, June 21, 2013, it was announced that she would star in Lil BUB's Big SHOWweb series with
Revision3.[1][41] Bridavsky selected Rev3 for its connections to
Discovery Communications and
Animal Planet.[17] Bridavsky had full writing and
creative control.[17] The talk show format was made possible by having a subtitled Lil Bub edited with footage of her guests recorded separately.[17] Her first guest was
Whoopi Goldberg who met her on The View in April 2013.[42] The episode ended with Lil Bub introducing the audience to
Tabby's Place, a
cat sanctuary for disadvantaged felines. The episode aired September 3, 2013.[43]
Death
Lil Bub died in her sleep on December 1, 2019. According to Bridavsky, Lil Bub had been fighting an aggressive
bone infection at the time of her death.[44]