Stalking Cat
| Stalking Cat | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Dennis Avner August 27, 1958 Flint, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | November 5, 2012 (aged 54) Tonopah, Nevada, U.S. |
Stalking Cat (born Dennis Avner; August 27, 1958 – November 5, 2012) was an American man known for his extensive body modifications, which were intended to increase his resemblance to a tigress. For his 14 surgical procedures towards that goal, he held a world record for "most permanent transformations to look like an animal." The name "Stalking Cat" is a Native American name, given to him in childhood by a medicine man of his tribe.
Avner was born in Flint, Michigan. His parents were of Lakota and Wyandot heritage. He had a brother named Dave. The family lived in Suttons Bay, Michigan. As an adult, Stalking Cat related in an interview that the feelings of being connected to a totem were present, and how one of his earliest childhood memories was of wondering where his tail was. Around age 10, he was given the name Stalking Cat by Grey Cloud, the medicine man of his tribe.
As an adult, he joined the Navy as a sonar technician. He left his Navy post around 1981. He then began working as a computer programmer and technician in San Diego, California.
In the early 1980s, Stalking Cat began the modifications to his face. In interviews, he stated that he chose to alter his physical appearance in accordance with an ancient Wyandot tradition, where people alter their bodies to resemble their totems. He explained that he met a Native American chief who encouraged him to follow the ways of his totem, the tiger. He also told of how his totem was actually a female tiger, and how he felt moved to blur the gender boundaries as well. While living in San Diego, he met Tess Calhoun at a furry convention. Over several years, he formed a close friendship with Calhoun and her husband, Rick Weiss.
In 2005, Weiss' job with Boeing required the couple to move to Washington, and they asked Stalking Cat, then aged 47, to join them. The trio moved to Freeland, Washington, on Whidbey Island, where Stalking Cat helped fix up their house. He stood out in the small town, and the local newspapers occasionally ran articles on him. One article referred to him as a "cigarette-smoking, out-of-work, registered Republican who owns firearms and left California because he believes it's become a communist state". Calhoun said that he was "living in a family for really the first time" and that "it takes some adjusting".
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