Bub was the runt of the litter and was thwarted with a multitude of genetic anomalies. She was a perma-kitten, which she meant she stayed kitten sized her entire life, and she had an “extreme case of dwarfism,” which meant her limbs were disproportionately small relative to the rest of her body, so she had some trouble moving around. Additionally, Bub’s lower jaw was shorter than her upper jaw, and she never grew a full set of teeth. These factors caused her tongue to hang out of her mouth but did not inhibit her appetite.
But these special characteristics are what made Lil Bub so endearing. She accumulated over 2.3 million Instagram followers and almost 3 million Facebook fans in her 8 years.
At the time of her passing, Bub was struggling with an "aggressive bone infection." Regardless, her owners were not expecting her to pass so soon and suddenly.
"I truly believe that she willingly made the decision to leave her failing body so that our family would not have to make that difficult decision ourselves,” reads the Instagram post, which also includes the first and last photo Bridavsky took with his famous feline.