Hi, I’m Ari —
your cat’s translator.

Ari Holmes · they/them

I help cats and the people who love them understand each other — without fear, force, or shame.

My story

I fell for cats the way most people fall for a person: completely, and a little against my better judgment. It started with Gator. He was my formative cat, and the one who taught me to actually listen. Gator belonged to my then-partner but it didn’t take long before I was his person and he was my cat. The human relationship didn’t last but Gator and I did. He’s only with me in memory now, but everything I do now traces back to what Gator taught me. (picture of Gator here)

Somewhere between fostering, volunteering, and staying up too late reading feline behavior research, I realized the “bad” cats nobody could figure out weren’t bad at all. They were misunderstood. Every yowl, scratch, and litter box protest was a cat trying to tell us something in a language we never learned.

So I learned it. Now I help other people learn it too — without the fear, force, or shame that used to pass for cat training.

[talk about how you got into TNR – a little bit about the colony/colonies you support, name some of the cats you’ve placed.

My philosophy: fear-free, always

Cats don’t act out to be “dominant” or spiteful, despite what the internet will tell you. That’s a myth. They act out because something in their world isn’t working: a resource, a routine, a stressor, or a medical issue hiding in plain sight. My job is to find it and fix it in a way that feels safe for your cat and doable for you. No punishment. No flooding. No squirt bottles. Just science, patience, and respect for who your cat already is.

What I believe

Every cat makes sense once you speak their language.

Community cats deserve care, not culling — TNR works, and kindness scales.

Help should be judgment-free and inclusive: every household, every budget, every human welcome.

The humans matter too. A plan only works if it fits your real life.

The credentials (and the personal bit)

Fear Free Trained TNR-trained Metro Atlanta

When I’m not decoding cats, you’ll find me trap-setting at dawn, over-photographing my own babies, and defending the honor of much-maligned black cats everywhere. Based in Alpharetta, obsessed with the whole metro-Atlanta cat community.

Every cat makes sense. Let’s decode yours.

Ready to figure out what your cat’s been trying to tell you? Let’s team up.