It is with the heaviest of hearts that we say goodbye to King Arthur Excalibur Blakely—our tiny, fearless, chaotic little king—who left us far too soon on November 14, 2025, at just five months old. Most folks knew him as Kibby, though he answered (when he felt like it) to Crack-and-Cheese, Smelly, or Ninja. From the moment Patrick Blakely heard a faint mew coming from inside a poolside grill on June 21, 2025, this little life was already writing his legend. Patrick spent a full hour on a rescue mission, rigging two spatulas together like some kind of kitten Excalibur to coax the bald, eyes-barely-open baby out of the stone he was trapped in. When Patrick finally lifted him free, he looked like the scrappiest knight who ever lived, and that’s exactly who he grew up to be. For the first weeks Patrick bottle-fed him around the clock, and we were so sure he was a girl that “Kibby” stuck as the everyday name. Then one day Kelsey looked a little closer and announced, “Um… that’s a boy.” And just like that, the kitten pulled from the stone earned his royal title: King Arthur Excalibur Blakely. Columbia, South Carolina, never knew what hit it. Arthur was a professional menace—blinds were snacks, counters were for swiping anything that wasn’t nailed down, and toes under blankets were mortal enemies. He bullied his big sister Pluto with pride, shredded every cat tree in the house, and played hide-and-seek like a champion (usually winning because no box or cupboard was off-limits). He was the best escape artist we ever met, slipping out the door the second it cracked open so he could sit on the porch and take in the whole big world like it all belonged to him. But the same little ninja who terrorized feet and destroyed mini-blinds could flip a switch and melt into the softest cuddle bug you ever met. If you were napping, he was pressed up against you purring. If you had a treat, he’d sit pretty and shake your hand like a gentleman. He adored meeting new people, demanded pets from anyone who walked through the door, and believed every lap in the house was his throne. Arthur lived every single one of his five months like he was making up for lost time—outside adventures, endless cuddles, whatever we were doing, he was doing it with us, usually while causing delightful chaos. He is survived by the humans who loved him beyond words: his dad Patrick Blakely, his mom Kelsey Buckley, his aunt Brina Toomey, his uncle Sam Hawkins, and his glamma Haley Buckley—who all spoiled him rotten—and his big sister Pluto, who is probably enjoying the peace and quiet for the first time in months. A celebration of Arthur’s wild, beautiful, much-too-short life will be held on Sunday, November 16, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at 920 Fair Street, Newberry, SC 29108. We’ll gather to laugh, cry, swap Kibby stories, and send our little king off the way he deserves—with love, treats (for the humans), and probably a few shredded blinds in his memory. Rest easy, sweet boy. The castle is quieter without you, but we’ll feel you swiping stuff off the counters and curling up next to us every single night. You were only here for a moment, but you ruled our hearts forever.