Kristen Bell - Bell Burdened With Old Dog

KRISTEN BELL is stuck with an elderly dog she adopted out of pity after Hurricane Katrina - because the ailing pooch is surviving years longer than she had expected.

The Couples Retreat star took in three pets left homeless after Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, volunteering to look after the oldest canine the shelter had in what she thought would be its final days.

But the dog, named Sadie, is clinging to life - and four years later, Bell has to put up with her pet's bad hygiene and diminishing health.

She explains, "I adopted this dog from Katrina when she was 12 'cause I work with a shelter and they had a bunch of dogs and I said, 'I'll take the oldest one, I can care for her.'

"Cut to four years later, (I'm) actually thinking she may be a real-life vampire and never die. She's almost totally blind and deaf. When she's in the house, you can hear her pooping from the other room, it's like bowling balls dropping.

"She's semi-crippled in the house and she breathes like Darth Vader."