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Lil Bub.
Lil Bub, officially Lil BUB (June 21, 2011 December 1, 2019), was an American celebrity cat known for her unique physical appearance, and is owned by Mike Bridavsky. Her photos were first posted to Tumblr in November 2011, before being taken off after being featured on the social news website Reddit. "Lil Bub" on Facebook has over three million likes.
Background[]
Lil Bub was the runt of her litter born to a feralmother. She was born with several genetic mutations, had to be bottle-fed, and had difficulty being adopted. 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. 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!"
Lil Bub suffered from osteopetrosis for which she received medication. 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. Lil Bub's short legs and osteopetrosis restricted her movement but she was termed "a fantastic waddler."— Vibrations from travel also break down the osteoclasts.
A group of individuals launch ed a campaign on the website Experiment.com to sequence Lil Bub's genome. 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. 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.
Bridavsky sold a variety of merchandise under the LIL BUB moniker and donated much of the profits to animal rescue groups. Some of the money also helped Bridavsky pay off six months of back rent on his recording studio.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.
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.”
Gallery[]
External links[]
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