Good-bye, Keanu

Readers of Bill Crider’s blog as well as The Rap Sheet will likely recall the story of how that Alvin, Texas, author adopted three kittens he had discovered in the drainage ditch across the street from his house in the spring of 2016. That mischievous trio—Keanu, Ginger Tom, and Gilligan—quickly became famous on the Internet as the “VBKs” (or Very Bad Kittens). Shortly before Crider died last February, his goddaughter, Liz Romig Hatlestad, adopted the cats and moved them to her home in the central Texas town of Brownwood. She also created a Facebook page where we could keep track of their continuing antics.

Sadly, Hatlestad reports on Facebook that little Keanu—who Crider first introduced here and here—has died. She wrote on December 6:

We’re not sure how or why but she died in an accident in a neighbor’s fenced-in yard.

We had taken to calling her Teensy at our house, because she was so petite compared to her brothers. Lately we had been finding her right next to [Hatlestad’s baby daughter] Alice’s crib when we came in the nursery in the morning, keeping the baby company. She was our sweetest and most beautiful kitty, and we loved hearing her meow. …

I know from many stories that she was the first one to be found [by] Bill, and we are just sick that she had to be the first one to leave us. I hate so much to have to make this post and I just dread telling all the VBK family out there about this loss. This group has been a source of joy for me but today is very hard.

You can enjoy some photographs of Keanu on the VBKs (Very Bad Kittens) Fan Page on Facebook.