Kristen Bell spends her spare time nursing an old – but very lucky dog.

The Veronica Mars star revealed that she took in the elderly pooch, who was left homeless after Hurricane Katrina – on her request to adopt the oldest dog in an animal shelter.

“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’,” Kristen explained.

However, after four years of living with the dog – Bell admits she’s surprised it’s still alive.

“Cut to four years later, I’m actually thinking she may be a real-life vampire and never die,” she continued. “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,” added Kristen.