Lil' Bub

Lil’ Bub

By Mia M. Burkholder

Lil’ Bub has to be the best Space Kitten ever known to this earth, (and the only one, that’s what makes her so unique!)but what makes her so one-of-a-kind? Why is she one of the many favorite internet cats? How did she touch your heart the minute he leaped through your computer screen-and how does she touch other animal’s hearts across America each day? Get ready to learn all about this famous Space Kitty!

Lil’ Bub was born on June 21st, 2011 in Bloomington, Indiana. She was the runt of the litter, and no one wanted to adopt her because of her many genetic mutations, including dwarfism and a short lower jaw that caused  her tongue to hang out. She had to be bottle-fed, and was toothless. Nobody would take her home because they believed that she would be too much work.  Mike Bridavsky didn’t think that way. Once he saw her, he instantly fell in love, despite her slight troubles.

Bub instantly became a star once her owner posted a picture of her on Tumblr in November of 2011, when she was only 5 months old. It was then posted to Reddit and BAM! she was an overnight sensation. Ever since, Bub has been fantastically famous.

In late 2012, Lil’ Bub decided to take a big leap into the acting world when she started to star in a documentary with her owner called “Lil’ Bub & Friendz”. The movie shows Bub and her owner as  they interview lots of “cat-lebrities” & their owners and go to the first Cat Video Film Festival.  The film features many famous kitties, such as Grumpy Cat, Nyan Cat, and Keyboard Cat, plus an interview with Lil’ Bub’s meme manager, Ben Lashes (yes, meme managers do exist.) You truly feel like you know Bub after you watch it.

The documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in early 2013, and won the award for the Tribeca Online Best Feature Film. Although this seems like shooting this movie was easy, it really was a hard time for Bub and her owner. During the filming in 2012, the famous cat came down with osteopetrosis, a bone disease. Now, Bub takes medication for it and is much better but still can’t walk like other cats. Instead, she waddles-but she’s very good at it!

After her movie, Lil’ Bub became very well known, and she started to do much more- and the public loved it! She came out with a book, started an online shop , and even came out with a talk show she does on youtube called “Lil’ Bub’s Big Show!” where she interviews celebrities from her space ship. She has interviewed not only humans, but also animals (such as Little Prince the guinea pig) and sometimes inanimate objects (like bones at the history museum).

“Bub becoming famous was an accident.” Mike Bridavsky explained on Lil’ Bub’s documentary. “ But it was a good one.” Before Mike got Lil’ Bub he was having some trouble. He was behind on his rent for the recording studio he owned, he had to sell lots of equipment and was even living in his studio, along with his other 3 cats. When Bub came along, everything changed. He bought back the things he sold. He moved into an apartment. All of his cats were living great lives, but then he thought about all of the cats and dogs that weren’t.

That’s why Mike and Lil’ Bub decided to start something called Lil’ Bub’s Big Fund For The ASPCA. Bub and her owner created it to help animals with special needs, like Bub.  Mike has been very generous, and so have lots of others. So far they have raised over $125,000 (and counting!) for animals all over the country.

Good job Bub.

Very good job.