Lil Bub has died, leaving behind a legacy of science, magic and love for special needs pets

Alex Biese | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Lil Bub visits Catsbury Park Cat Convention Lil Bub and her owner Mike Bridasky enjoy a meet and greet with fans during the Catsbury Park Cat Convention in Asbury Park.

The world just lost some of its magic.

Lil Bub, one of the Internet's favorite felines, has died. Lil Bub passed away at the age of 8 on Sunday, Dec. 1, according to a social media post by her "dude," Mike Bridavsky, who said she had been battling a "persistent and aggressive" bone infection.

With more than 3 million Facebook followers in addition to 2.3 million Instagram followers and more than 340,000 YouTube subscribers, Lil Bub was a true Internet sensation who used her platform for tremendous good, raising more than $700,000 for animals in need according to Bridavsky.

Based in Bloomington, Indiana, Bub left a big impact on the Jersey Shore, helping the mission of Asbury Park cat cafe and animal rescue organization Catsbury Park.

Bub appeared at a number of Asbury Park and Philadelphia cat conventions to support the organization, and arranged for donations of food and litter for the organization via her partnerships with Halo pet food and Scoop Away litter.

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Lil Bub was a “perma-kitten,” who stayed kitten size for life, and had an extreme case of dwarfism, resulting in her limbs being disproportionately small compared to the rest of her body.

In addition, Bub's lower jaw was markedly shorter than her upper jaw and her teeth never grew in, resulting in her tongue always sticking out of her mouth. She was a polydactyl cat, giving her an extra toe on all four paws, and in recent years she dealt with a bone infection adding mass to her jaw, a symptom of osteoporosis.

Despite these setbacks, Bub inspired a hit 2015 album,"Science & Magic: A Guide to the Universe," via Joyful Noise Recordings," which charted on Billboard's Dance/Electronica Albums, Heatseekers Albums and Albums charts, with 25 percent of the net proceeds going to Lil Bub's Big Fund for the ASPAC supporting special-needs pets.

She also released a book, "Lil Bub's Lil Book: The Extraordinary Life of the Most Amazing Cat on the Planet," in 2013 and hosted the talk show "Lil Bub's Big Show" on YouTube.

"She's so small and innocent and has all these genetic abnormalities that seem like they would deter her from doing all this stuff but despite all that she's a published author, she's a talk show host, she's a Billboard-topping artist," Bridavsky told the Asbury Park Press of the power of Bub this spring.

"And so people are rooting for her and cheering for her and at the same time really respect her and are inspired by her. She's like this completely pure source of all that is good, is the way that I see it. And it's not like some persona I've created for her, it's who she really is."