Cadbury Revisited

Cadbury (KN)

Cadbury came to us in the summer of 2017 as one of a group we came to know as “The Candy Cats” – a colony of six that came from Coquitlam, and were so scared that they excavated their way under the cabin in Pen 6 in order to hide.  Nine years on, and Cadbury is still scared and wary – at least until he knows you.

Cat-nap  (KN)

His big brother Skittles constituted himself as my lap-cat; it began with cupboard love (he was a chicken addict) and turned into a love for cuddles. We lost him in 2021 during a brutal couple of weeks when we lost 11 beloved cats to a variety of conditions. Little sister SweetTart showed a preference for the cats in neighboring pen 7, and though the originals she loved have crossed the bridge, she still lives there.  The other three – Hershey and Butterscotch (F) and Purdy (M) have all remained resolutely feral.

With his Pen 3 buddy, Cornelius  (LBF)

Cadbury was initally very close with Skittles, but while the other Candy Cats made their home around Pen 8 and Waldi’s hut, Cadbury took himself off to the other end of the Back Courtyard, and settled himself in Pen 3. There, he shares space with the colony of “teens” who arrived from a Calgary hoarding situation in 2021. He beds down with them in the cabin when it’s cold, but spends quite a bit of time outside on his own. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t seem to interact at all with the colony of College cats, who are also very shy, but very bonded.

Cadbury the loner  (MW)

For a shy cat, Cadbury does very well with visitors at the weekend. He will initially sit a little distance away, but when approached gently and with the right bribery, he will allow contact and some gentle petting, He has his favourite people – both visitors and volunteers – and he is one of the few cats that prefers dry treats to chicken tidbits.

A big "down cat" stretch  (KN)

There has been some discussion around possible adoption, but a recent stay in a DoubleWide cage for treatment of an upper respiratory infection (those bugs are going around!) has confirmed that anything outside his usual surroundings is too scary for him to think about; he spent most of the cage-time pancaked to the floor, as invisible as he could manage.  Once recovered, he was so be so glad to be returning to his friends in Pen 3.

Perched outside Pen 3 cabin (KN)

I’ve said elsewhere that I have a weakness for tabby boys, but I think that Cadbury is one of the most beautiful tabbies we have – so today this is less a blog, and more the opportunity to share from a gallery of lovely Cadbury pics!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright