John Bartlett, known to tens of thousands of cat lovers across the globe as Foster Dad John (FDJ for short), started fostering kittens for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter and sanctuary in Arlington, WA, in 2008. In 2011, John combined his loves of technology and cats by setting up a webcam in his house and invited the world to watch his foster kitties, as well as his interactions with them, live online.
Today, it has over 40.000 viewers from every part of the globe. John hasn’t only helped cats in his role as FDJ, however. The chat feature on his kitten cam site has created a virtual community of Kitten Cam Fans who, in the years since, have begun to form lifelong friendships, sharing stories, celebrating successes, and supporting each other during difficult times. John has saved many, many cats; but cats’ lives aren’t the only ones he has changed.
THE JUBILEE FOSTERS
On November 19, 2015, John took in his 50th litter, the Jubilee Fosters: a mama cat and her kitten, named Smooch and Smudge. Both are suffering from severe sun damage on their ears and will likely need surgery to remove them.
ON NOVEMBER 23, 2015, JOHN WRITES
Like a little lost refugee child, Smudge hasn’t had an easy life – and she’s not even three months old yet. She’s never had a toy, a safe place to sleep all day, or food & water available just by walking over to a bowl.
She’s starting to feel more relaxed and as started playing on the towers and giving the ol’ ball ring a whack or two but so far, her most favorite game bar none is Hidden Mice (fingers under the hammock bed). Her mama Smooch is living up to her name and has started climbing up onto my lap.
These two are the most sweetest cats I have ever seen. Smudge is a bit of an anomaly – kittens born wild turn feral very early but Smudge acts like she’s been held 24×7 for all of her life.