This morning’s post comes with heavy news, and I’m in the terrible position of reporting the death of body modification icon Dennis Avner, often better known as Stalking Cat or just Tiger. A US Navy vet more recently working as a programmer and technician, Dennis identified strongly with his feline totem animals and in what he told me was a Huron traditional of actually adopting the physical form of ones totem, he transformed himself not just into a tiger, but a female tiger at that, blurring and exploring the gender line as much as the species line. Much of his work had been done by body modification pioneer Steve Haworth, who rebuilt Dennis’s ears, lip, nose, and face to resemble a tiger, including a multitude of transdermals that held artificial whiskers. In addition to being almost completely covered in tattoos, he’d also sculpted his face and body with extensive silicone work, had custom teeth built to emulate his inner nature, and regularly wore contact lenses and an artificial robotic tail.
Dennis’s boundary-breaking life was never an easy one, and as he was fond of saying, he “found fame, but never fortune”. A wonderful and complex person, he was at times as troubled as he was remarkable, and he recently took his own life at the age of 54 (August 27, 1958 – November 5, 2012). You can download an interview that Dennis and I did for BMEradio about ten years ago at this link: BMEradio/Cat.mp3. The photos below were taken at ModCon III by Philip Barbosa when Cat visited us here in Toronto. In the bottom photo he appears with fellow concept transformation artist, Erik “The Lizardman” Sprague.
Comments
288 responses to “RIP Stalking Cat”
stalkingcat.net has been hacked. bummers on top of bummers
stalkingcat.net has been hacked. bummers on top of bummers
stalkingcat.net has been hacked. bummers on top of bummers
stalkingcat.net has been hacked. bummers on top of bummers
sad to hear of the way he passed. rest peacefully.
sad to hear of the way he passed. rest peacefully.
sad to hear of the way he passed. rest peacefully.
sad to hear of the way he passed. rest peacefully.
I was actually waiting to see if he completed himself. It is sad that he died, he was very interesting.
I was actually waiting to see if he completed himself. It is sad that he died, he was very interesting.
I was actually waiting to see if he completed himself. It is sad that he died, he was very interesting.
I was actually waiting to see if he completed himself. It is sad that he died, he was very interesting.
Yah I lived with stalking cat for 2 years. i have friends that are letting me know whut happend and from whut i have seen and heard it was a very traumatic experience for the ppl he knew he will be missed.. http://www.gofundme.com/1i7hak?pc=fb_cr
Yah I lived with stalking cat for 2 years. i have friends that are letting me know whut happend and from whut i have seen and heard it was a very traumatic experience for the ppl he knew he will be missed.. http://www.gofundme.com/1i7hak?pc=fb_cr
Yah I lived with stalking cat for 2 years. i have friends that are letting me know whut happend and from whut i have seen and heard it was a very traumatic experience for the ppl he knew he will be missed.. http://www.gofundme.com/1i7hak?pc=fb_cr
Yah I lived with stalking cat for 2 years. i have friends that are letting me know whut happend and from whut i have seen and heard it was a very traumatic experience for the ppl he knew he will be missed.. http://www.gofundme.com/1i7hak?pc=fb_cr
Very sad news. My love goes to his family and friends, and the bodmod community as well. He was a pioneer and legend to us xx
Very sad news. My love goes to his family and friends, and the bodmod community as well. He was a pioneer and legend to us xx
Very sad news. My love goes to his family and friends, and the bodmod community as well. He was a pioneer and legend to us xx
Very sad news. My love goes to his family and friends, and the bodmod community as well. He was a pioneer and legend to us xx
I hope he will get his wish and come back on planet earth as a real tiger!
A real tiger who lives FREE (not in a Zoo or Circus)
I hope he will get his wish and come back on planet earth as a real tiger!
A real tiger who lives FREE (not in a Zoo or Circus)
I hope he will get his wish and come back on planet earth as a real tiger!
A real tiger who lives FREE (not in a Zoo or Circus)
I hope he will get his wish and come back on planet earth as a real tiger!
A real tiger who lives FREE (not in a Zoo or Circus)
R.I.P. Tiger
R.I.P. Tiger
R.I.P. Tiger
R.I.P. Tiger
Very very sad indeed. We have lost a sweet caring men.
Further i agree with @Sophia.
Very very sad indeed. We have lost a sweet caring men.
Further i agree with @Sophia.
Very very sad indeed. We have lost a sweet caring men.
Further i agree with @Sophia.
Very very sad indeed. We have lost a sweet caring men.
Further i agree with @Sophia.
I did meet Cat at ModConIII in Toronto. That was a get together which was a compilation of superlatives, and Cat was very much a part of it. He was a definite walking example of Steve Haworth’s genius, but he was also so personally unique that what Steve did was really an amazing extension of Cat’s persona. That persona will be with us, so long as an image of him remains.
I did meet Cat at ModConIII in Toronto. That was a get together which was a compilation of superlatives, and Cat was very much a part of it. He was a definite walking example of Steve Haworth’s genius, but he was also so personally unique that what Steve did was really an amazing extension of Cat’s persona. That persona will be with us, so long as an image of him remains.
I did meet Cat at ModConIII in Toronto. That was a get together which was a compilation of superlatives, and Cat was very much a part of it. He was a definite walking example of Steve Haworth’s genius, but he was also so personally unique that what Steve did was really an amazing extension of Cat’s persona. That persona will be with us, so long as an image of him remains.
I did meet Cat at ModConIII in Toronto. That was a get together which was a compilation of superlatives, and Cat was very much a part of it. He was a definite walking example of Steve Haworth’s genius, but he was also so personally unique that what Steve did was really an amazing extension of Cat’s persona. That persona will be with us, so long as an image of him remains.
Tragic, RIP. 🙁
Tragic, RIP. 🙁
Tragic, RIP. 🙁
Tragic, RIP. 🙁
RIP Denis, you will be missed. I’m glad I got to meet you the several times that I did. I was hoping to see you again this year but I guess I will have to wait till the next life to see you again. You have been an inspiration to people all around the world who have wanted to express their own nature that they feel inside.
RIP Denis, you will be missed. I’m glad I got to meet you the several times that I did. I was hoping to see you again this year but I guess I will have to wait till the next life to see you again. You have been an inspiration to people all around the world who have wanted to express their own nature that they feel inside.
RIP Denis, you will be missed. I’m glad I got to meet you the several times that I did. I was hoping to see you again this year but I guess I will have to wait till the next life to see you again. You have been an inspiration to people all around the world who have wanted to express their own nature that they feel inside.
RIP Denis, you will be missed. I’m glad I got to meet you the several times that I did. I was hoping to see you again this year but I guess I will have to wait till the next life to see you again. You have been an inspiration to people all around the world who have wanted to express their own nature that they feel inside.
Avner was a beacon of light within the gay community, both as a gay man and as a lesbian. His pioneering exploration of what it meant to be homosexual will give others the strength to become Bat Women and Dog Men and Man Snakes and Tarantula Girls until the boundaries of inter-species existence eventually becomes – not a freak show – but the norm for the human race. Long live the Tigress!
Avner was a beacon of light within the gay community, both as a gay man and as a lesbian. His pioneering exploration of what it meant to be homosexual will give others the strength to become Bat Women and Dog Men and Man Snakes and Tarantula Girls until the boundaries of inter-species existence eventually becomes – not a freak show – but the norm for the human race. Long live the Tigress!
Avner was a beacon of light within the gay community, both as a gay man and as a lesbian. His pioneering exploration of what it meant to be homosexual will give others the strength to become Bat Women and Dog Men and Man Snakes and Tarantula Girls until the boundaries of inter-species existence eventually becomes – not a freak show – but the norm for the human race. Long live the Tigress!
Avner was a beacon of light within the gay community, both as a gay man and as a lesbian. His pioneering exploration of what it meant to be homosexual will give others the strength to become Bat Women and Dog Men and Man Snakes and Tarantula Girls until the boundaries of inter-species existence eventually becomes – not a freak show – but the norm for the human race. Long live the Tigress!
Why did he give-up after every thing he went through? I don’t understand it. Was he really that far gone with depression and no one close to him knew?
I grieve for his loss.
Why did he give-up after every thing he went through? I don’t understand it. Was he really that far gone with depression and no one close to him knew?
I grieve for his loss.