Book cover of Lil Bub's Lil Book with cat sitting and tongue out

Lil Bub

2011viral videoclassic

Published October 8, 2026

Lil Bub was a female housecat born in June 2011 in rural Indiana with genetic mutations causing dwarfism, polydactyly and a shortened lower jaw that left her tongue permanently sticking out. After owner Mike Bridavsky uploaded a short YouTube clip in November 2011, she became one of the defining celebrity cats of the early 2010s internet, inspiring a Tribeca-winning documentary and a charity fund that outlived her.

cats celebrity animal memes early 2010s memes rescue animal memes charity memes

Overview

Lil Bub was marketed as a 'perma-kitten,' a cat whose genetic quirks locked her in a permanent kitten-like appearance with disproportionately short limbs, extra toes totaling 22 claws, no teeth and a tiny lower jaw that made her tongue flop out at all times3. Owner Mike Bridavsky described her sounds as a mix of 'squonks, squeaks, gurgles, snorts, hiccups, purrs' rather than normal meows, and the combination of odd vocalizations and alien-looking face is what shaped her online persona1.

The Lil Bub format was less a template people remixed and more a stream of candid cat content: short YouTube clips of her waddling, licking food, or staring blankly into cameras, paired with photo sets on Tumblr and merch imagery on her storefront2. Fans and bloggers compared her to a Mogwai from Gremlins, treating the resemblance as a running gag across posts1. The 'happy accident' framing, borrowed from a 2012 BuzzFeed headline, became the standard way outlets described her4.

Unlike Grumpy Cat, whose image was mostly used as a reaction macro, Lil Bub stayed anchored to her real-life persona. Her presence online was built around videos, photos and in-person appearances rather than captioned stills, which is why the bulk of her legacy sits in long-form content like the Vice documentary and the charity work her owner later organized56.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube / Tumblr (viral spread)
Creator
Mike Bridavsky
Date
2011

Lil Bub was discovered as the runt of a healthy feral litter inside a tool shed in rural Indiana in the summer of 2011, born on June 21st of that year6. Mike Bridavsky took her in as a rescue because her mutations required special care, and she lived with him in Bloomington, Indiana7.

Her first viral breadcrumb was a 15-second YouTube clip titled 'good job bub.3gp,' uploaded on November 8th, 2011 by the account LilBubBub, which shows the cat stalking and pouncing at the camera8. The Lil Bub Tumblr blog launched the same day and reposted that video as its first entry9. For roughly six months, Bub's online footprint stayed small and mostly Tumblr-based before mainstream blogs picked her up in mid-2012.

How It Spread

The first major non-Tumblr push came on May 18th, 2012, when the design blog Jakprints posted 'Jakprints Loves Lil' Bub,' showing off a sticker of the cat licking an ice cream cone10. Over the next ten days Bridavsky scaled up the operation: an official Facebook page launched on May 27th and the store at store.lilbub.com went live on May 30th selling t-shirts, tote bags and postcards3. The @IamLilBub Twitter account followed on June 1st, 2012.

The inflection point was summer 2012. BuzzFeed's Summer Anne Burton published 'Meet Lil Bub, Nature's Happy Accident Who Is About to Win Your Heart' on June 30th, which reportedly pulled over 193,000 views, 800 comments and 6,000 Facebook shares within a month4. Jezebel followed on July 4th with a post calling her 'one of the weirdly cutest, Mogwai-looking motherfucking cats you will ever see'2. Vice's Kate Carraway wrote 'Vice Loves Bub More Than You Do' on July 24th, boasting that staffers had Bub postcards taped above their desks5.

By 2013 Lil Bub crossed into traditional media. Vice announced on March 7th, 2013 that it was producing a feature documentary, 'Lil Bub & Friendz,' co-starring Grumpy Cat, Nyan Cat, Keyboard Cat and meme manager Ben Lashes11. Complex and Metro covered the trailer when it dropped on March 18th1213. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18th, 2013 and won Best Feature Film in the festival's Online Competition, taking home $10,00014. That same spring Bridavsky announced 'Lil BUB's Lil Book,' and in June 2013 revealed a Revision3 web series called The Lil Bub Show15.

Timeline

2019-12-01

Lil Bub dies; her charity, Lil BUB's Big FUND, later reports raising over $500,000 for animals in need.

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How to Use This Meme

Lil Bub was less a meme template than an internet personality, so 'using' her mostly meant sharing her videos and photos. The common conventions in fan posts were leaning on her stuck-out tongue as the punchline, describing her as a 'happy accident' or 'perma-kitten,' and comparing her face to a Mogwai or alien. Captioned photos typically played her blank, wide-eyed stare against a mundane situation.

Cultural Impact

Lil Bub's crossover from YouTube to Tribeca was one of the first times an internet cat was treated as film festival material, and the Vice documentary explicitly framed her alongside Grumpy Cat, Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat as part of a wider story about online cat fame1113. Her charity arm, Lil BUB's Big FUND, raised more than $500,000 for animals with special needs, which is tracked on her official site after her death on December 1st, 20196. Urban Dictionary entries, written by fans, still define her simply as 'a cat celebrity' born with disabilities 'that only make him cuter'16.

Fun Facts

Lil Bub had 22 claws because of her polydactyly, and she was reportedly unable to walk or run properly, mostly waddling instead2.

Bridavsky said she did not actually meow, communicating instead through 'squonks, squeaks, gurgles, snorts, hiccups, purrs' and occasional growls2.

By July 2012 Vice staffers were openly wearing Bub shirts and taping her postcards above their desks, which the magazine wrote about as a competitive flex5.

The soundtrack for 'Lil Bub & Friendz' featured Spiritualized, Steve Reich, Mort Garson and Integrity, which is an unusual mix for a cat documentary11.

Her first YouTube video was uploaded with the file extension .3gp, suggesting it was shot on an early-2010s mobile phone8.

Derivatives & Variations

Lil Bub & Friendz, a 2013 Vice-produced documentary that won Best Feature Film in Tribeca's Online Competition[14].

Lil BUB's Lil Book, a 100-photo captioned book released on September 3rd, 2013 through Bridavsky's publishing deal[1].

The Lil Bub Show, a Revision3 web series announced for Bub's second birthday in June 2013, built around her interviewing people via Skype and at events[15].

Lil BUB's Big FUND, the ongoing charity run by her estate that passed $500,000 raised for animals needing extra care[6].

Frequently Asked Questions