Simple plastic surgery or much more then that?…

cat man

His  goes by Stalking Cat, he  said he has lost track of how much his transformation has cost, though one figure quoted on a Web site estimates it would cost more than $200,000 — a figure Stalking Cat would neither confirm nor deny. He would only say, “It’s a lot.”

As for any pain, Stalking Cat said some of the procedures hurt, but says there is no ongoing discomfort: “This is me,” he said. “This is who I am.”

The man responsible for the majority of Stalking Cat’s most extreme procedures is Phoenix body-modification artist Steve Haworth. He could not be reached for comment, but Stalking Cat is featured on Haworth’s Web site, www.stevehaworth.com.

Stalking Cat said he next plans to start tattooing the rest of his body with tiger stripes and to go back to Haworth to have stainless-steel mounts implanted in the top of his head so he can attach catlike ears to them. But further procedures will have to wait while he goes about the more mundane process of finding a job and fixing up the home he has shared since May with friends Tess Calhoun and Rick Weiss.

“The people here have been pretty welcoming,” he said.

He has already found a local manicurist to paint his fingernails. “They don’t look very good today,” he said, examining the tiger print detailing on them. “I’m still teaching her how to do it.”

“I think he fits in well on the island,” said Sarah Pankau, 18, who works near Stalking Cat’s house. She said there’s already a diverse mix of people on the island and he’s a welcome addition.

Nevertheless, not all islanders have embraced him. After Stalking Cat announced his move on his online journal, a person with the screen name “atomicdrunk” said, “… we have lots of hunters here. You can move here if you agree to stay in the woods and not wear orange.”

Home life:

Stalking Cat has created a different kind of family with Calhoun and Weiss, a married couple he has known for almost five years. When the two recently relocated to Washington from California for Weiss’ job with Boeing, they asked Stalking Cat to join them. He keeps busy doing renovations on their home.

“What we have going here works very well,” he said of living with the couple. The household also includes two (real) cats, Morris and Pretty Girl; two Pomeranians; one albino garter snake; and three geckos.

“Family is a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” Calhoun said. “We are mutually supportive and we respect each other’s choices.”

***

This was  part of the article of the ” The Seattle Times” Local News that appeared on August 15, 2005. Here is a link to the entire article.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002441727_catman16.html