The life, times and empire of the cat known to millions as Lil Bub
Back in 2011, Mike Bridavsky adopted a tiny feral kitten. With her bulging eyes, lack of teeth, unrestrained tongue, scraggly fur, extra toes and brittle bones, the animal would be a challenge to raise.
Undaunted by the 2-month-old cat’s genetic anomalies, Bridavsky took her home.
At the time of her death eight years later, the 3-pound runt known around the world as Lil Bub was praised as an advocate for all. Not just the feline species, but any being that lives with a disability or suffers prejudice because they are different.
“What Bub was able to show people was no matter what’s happening in your life, no matter what emotional or physical challenges you are working to overcome, you can do it,” Bridavsky wrote in an essay a week after his cat died. “Bub never ever would give up … her spirit was so strong.”
Lil Bub traveled the country as a cat ambassador, collecting more than half a million dollars in donations spread all around to assist animals people walk right past in shelters. The ones that aren’t so cute, or perfect, or healthy.
Admirers would pay $100 for a coveted meet-and-greet session with Lil Bub and the opportunity to take her picture. Millions followed her on social media. Describing her as "famous" is an understatement. She was truly beloved.
Remembering Lil Bub
The weekend of Feb. 3 and 4, Mike Bridavsky and his wife Stacy hosted a memorial event at Bloomington's Buskirk-Chumley Theater to honor and remember Lil Bub. About 220 people paid $69 for a ticket to the main event on Saturday afternoon; most weren't from Bloomington.
"The number of people here, and so many from out of town, would mean so much to Lil Bub," Bridavsky said from the stage. Joining a livestream were about 400 others who made a donation to watch online.
On Sunday, 51 people paid $65 to meet Mr. Marbles, a cat with defects similar to the ones Lil Bub was born with. The Bridavskys adopted him from Bloomington's animal shelter two years ago.
"Mr. Marbles is definitely his own cat. He has some of the same zen-like qualities Bub did and we're very happy to have him," Stacy Bridavsky said last week.
"I am really looking forward to sharing more about Mr. Marbles’ life and adventures through videos and photos as he continues Bub’s legacy and mission to help special needs pets," Mike Bridavsky said when he introduced the cat on Instagram in 2022 and invited people to "follow his adventures."
Promoting the message
On Jan. 29, the Bridavskys and Mr. Marbles appeared with cohosts Cody Adams and April Simpson on the WISH-TV morning show. They talked about the upcoming memorial while the cat sat perched on a glass table in the TV studio.
Mike Bridavsky told viewers the weekend event was going to be “a celebration” of all the good things Lil Bub accomplished when she was alive “and all the good she does now.”
The 3-pound cat, medical anomalies and all, was “one in a trillion … one of the most incredible creatures in the world,” Bridavsky said. “The world fell in love with her.”
Stacy Bridavsky held the cat in her lap, saying a little piece of Lil Bub “kind of came back with him, and is continuing her work on earth.”
Lil Bub: resilience and joy
Stacy Bridavsky wants people to recognize Lil Bub’s Big Fund as the first animal welfare organization in the U.S. to assist disabled pets. Lil Bub was a fighter despite her poor health, and money raised in her name gives other pets with challenges a chance to find a home.
“Bub was a symbol of resilience and a reminder that joy exists despite discomforts," she told those gathered for the memorial. "Our work is to ensure and embody Bub's spirit, finding small delights amid a life of adversity. We couldn't do the work we do without you."
Lil Bub’s health was often precarious. A serious, weeklong illness in 2012 worried Mike Bridavsky and stalled filming of the hour-long documentary “Lil Bub and Friendz,” which had its premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. The cat recovered.
During an outdoor drive-in screening at the World Financial Center Plaza in New York City that spring, Lil Bub appeared for a petting and photo session, and met actor Robert De Niro at a brunch.
When the film was shown at the Metro Chicago hall in October 2013, the event brought in $1,800 for the city’s Tree House Humane Society cat rescue.
That was the start of the financial contributions Lil Bub would generate to help animals with physical challenges and disabilities. She appeared on Good Morning America, the Today show and The View to promote the charity that carried her name.
Little cat, big money
From 2014 to 2020, Lil Bub’s Big Fund established with the ASPCA raised $427,000. The money was disbursed in 254 grants to animal welfare organizations assisting animals with special needs over the six years, spending an average of about $71,000 a year.
The year after Lil Bub’s 2019 death, Mike and Stacy Bridavsky took control of the charity and created an Indiana-based nonprofit agency with the same goal.
“Our small family took the reins and continued to advocate for special needs companion animals and build a community that celebrates and fosters the human-animal bond,” they wrote in an update to supporters. “With a focus on animals who are the most difficult to adopt, the most expensive to care for, and who are at a high risk of euthanasia, Lil Bub’s Big Fund provides grants to shelters nationwide.”
The donation website link is: goodjobbub.org.
The new Lil Bub nonprofit — called Lil Bub’s Animal Welfare Organization on its 990 form — reported $161,759 in income and $156,115 in profits in 2020. Expenses that year were just $5,644. No salaries were paid, and the nonprofit’s five-member board of directors received no stipend.
In 2021, revenue increased to $245,970 but profit was down to $81,568. That year, Lil Bub’s fund added its first paid employee, Stacy Bridavsky, with a $48,000 salary.
On stage at the Feb. 3 memorial event, Stacy Bridavsky wept and talked passionately about the animals Lil Bub continues to help, even after her death. She said people imagine a big organization, when she is the charity’s sole employee. “It’s just me,” she said.
IRS records indicate her $48,000 annual salary comes from donations to the cause. In 2022, the most recent year tax records are available, the nonprofit listed $169,805 in revenue and just $8,336 in the profit column on its IRS report. It gave out seven cash grants of more than $5,000 that totaled $69,273, the report documents. Smaller grants are not listed.
But the organization’s independent 2022 annual report on its website says 25 Lil Bub grants totaling $117,273 helped more than 600 special-needs pets in 2022. That amount is $48,000 — equal to Stacy Bridavsky's salary — more than grant totals reported to the IRS.
The 2022 grants detailed in the IRS report went to seven organizations:
Bloomington Animal Shelter: $10,000 for the special-needs non-profit veterinary clinic fund
Careawo in Baltimore, Maryland: $12,500 for direct care for special needs pets
Community Cat in Whitewater, Wisconsin: $8,300 for special-needs cats
Binx's Home for Black Cats in Asheville, North Carolina: $17,907 for land stewardship
Feral Change in Oakland, California: $6,500 to support special-needs pets
My Dog is My Home in Ridgewood, New York: $7,066 for education about special-needs pets from people with lived experience
Little Black Dog Rescue Group in Annandale, Virginia: $7,000 for special needs pet support.
Stacy Bridavsky said grants for 2022 for tax purposes totaled $101,273, which includes cash awards of all amounts. She said the fund website lists $117,273 because of an additional $16,000 paid out in donations from Lil Bub Fund’s emergency pet fund.
Lil Bub: "The center of a lot of good things'
Stephanie Lowe came from Indianapolis with her sister and two nephews for the Lil Bub memorial events. They rented an Airbnb on the southside of town and made a weekend of it, attending Saturday afternoon’s two-and-a-half-hour “Celebrating Bub” retrospective and “Bub on the Big Screen” that evening.
Sunday morning, they were at “Meeting Mister Marbles" at 10. At 2:30 was a concert, “The Music of Bub.”
Lowe loves cats. There’s a colorful image of her own feline, Bella, tattooed on her forearm. The 41-year-old is a Lil Bub admirer from way back. “All of us,” she said, indicating her sister and nephews, “are Bub fans. We met her several times.”
She said Lil Bub stood apart from the other celebrity cats of her day. “Lil Bub’s people did such good work for charity. She was different.”
Steven Marsh, 68 and from New York City, flew to Bloomington with his wife on a plane full of Indiana University alumni coming to town, not for a cat memorial, but a college football game.
Marsh’s seat in the ornate auditorium was among the best in the house. He was wearing a headband with faux-fur Lil Bub ears attached that he won playing Bub Bingo at the Orbit Room the night before.
“We’ve loved Lil Bub for a long time,” he said. “Bub is at the center of a lot of good things.”
This is what Mike Bridavsky wanted people to understand, that despite her abnormalities, his cat was doing good things. People loved her and donated money, bought merchandise and attended events.
Marketing and merch
The merchandise table in the Buskirk-Chumley lobby was stocked with all things Lil Bub.
Pullover sweaters with knitted images of Lil Bub, or Mr. Marbles if you prefer, for $30. Furry Lil Bub cat ears attached to a headband for $12. A soft plush Lil Bub for $24 (there's a video of Lil Bub attacking one of these stuffed toys.) A 2024 wall calendar featuring photos of both cats and “otherworldly words of wisdom,” half price for $8.
T-shirts, face masks, lapel pins, socks, stickers, books, posters, CDs, Valentine cards – there’s no shortage of Lil Bub memorabilia to be had. There's an online store that stocks and sells the items. A few years before Lil Bub passed on, a brick-and-mortar store in Bloomington sold her merch.
Mike Bridavsky wrote after the cat died that he hadn't intended for Lil Bub to become a legend. "I never tried to get Bub famous. I never even really wanted her to get famous. I fought it at first for a little bit. But eventually I gave in, because it was clear there was something really powerful and good coming out of it."
When people wanted to buy Lil Bub-related items, he saw another way to raise money for other pets like her.
"A brand formed out of the fame. There's no doubt about it. People wanted T-shirts and things and we made them, essentially out of necessity ... It just kept getting bigger and crazier."
Bridavsky said Lil Bub's was a life well-lived. She rose above celebrity, with her smooshed face, bug eyes and protruding tongue.
“I didn’t want people to make fun of her," he wrote a week after Lil Bub died on Dec. 1, 2019. They didn't.
"I thought she had a message. I thought there was something really important about her existence."
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington event marks legacy of Lil Bub years after her death
