Feline fine ... Cat Man Dennis Avner

By DULCIE PEARCE

HE STALKS across the room towards me, with surgically pointed ears, sharpened teeth, implanted whiskers and tiger tattoos covering his whole face and body.

This is Cat Man, real name Dennis Avner. A US computer programmer by day, feline by night.

Dennis has devoted much of his life to transforming himself into a tiger and now likes to be known simply as “Cat”.

Claiming he has the spirit and soul of a tiger, he even eats raw meat and climbs trees to feel more at one with his animal friends.

About-face ... revolving head man Joe Laurello

Time Life Pictures

And in news that will unsettle British birds, Cat is currently on the prowl in London, where he is helping to publicise the weird and wonderful new Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museum, which opened this week.

The museum, in Piccadilly Circus, is a collection of oddities ranging from shrunken human heads from Ecuador and a real mummified body, to The Last Supper painted on a grain of rice and a picture of Princess Diana made from tumble dryer fluff.

Cat has been linked with Ripley’s museums worldwide for a decade, and often appears as a curiosity at their attractions all over the globe.

No shrinking violet ... shrunken head

The 50-year-old, from Tonopah, Nevada, has spent a fortune on changing his face and body into that of a cat, but doesn’t regret a cent.

He says: “My work began in 1985, when I had extensive tattoo work on my face.

“Since then I have spent an uncalculated amount on my transformation from human to tiger, including around 20 operations on my face to recreate my upper lip, implant silicone in my cheeks and implants to enlarge my brow and forehead.

“I also have several piercings that I can attach whiskers to.

“But I only put them on for special occasions, as it takes about two hours to get them all in and the holes often become infected.”

Cat first remembers feeling an affinity with his family cat, Mitten, and says: “I was only a toddler but I knew we were soul mates.

“From then on, I devoted all my time and money to becoming a cat on the outside, as well as within.

Peek at freak ... Robert Ripley with a creature which was said to be a Fijian mermaid

“Pretty much every inch of my body is covered in tiger tattoos, but I still have a couple of inches on the backs of my legs that need to be worked on. And yes, I do mean every inch.”

Cat lives a double life, being a human at work and a cat at the weekends.

He says: “During the day, I’m like any other man who works in an office. The only difference is I look like a cat.

“My free time is when I really behave like a tiger. I love climbing trees, but as I get older I’m finding that tougher.

"I also eat meat every day, just as a tiger would.

“It must be as close to raw as possible, or at the temperature that an animal would be if it had just been killed.”

Having so far failed to find his perfect mate, Cat is still on the prowl for a woman to share his life with.

He says: “I’m seeing a couple of women at the moment.

“They understand that being a tiger is more important to me than humanity, which is difficult for many women to cope with.

“Three cats also share their lives with me. People often say they own cats, but no human can rule them. Humans are merely staff to felines.”

Cat may appear to be one of the weirdest humans on Earth, but when compared to the other bizarre displays at the latest Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museum, he suddenly starts to seem almost normal.

Visiting the five-storey extravaganza is like stepping into a modern-day circus freak show.

From an albino alligator to a 27-inch hairball found inside a cow’s stomach, most pieces were originally discovered by the museum’s original founder, Robert Ripley.

He died in 1949 but his legacy now lives on through museums across the world that are filled with his unusual discoveries — the creepy shrunken heads being one of Ripley’s personal favourites.

Cat chat ... Dennis Avner with The Sun's Dulcie Pearce

The Jivaro Indians of Ecuador created them as part of a religious ceremony to keep the souls of the dead with the living.

The practice was outlawed in the early 1940s, but Ripley retained the 114 he owned.

Three are now on display in London.

As well as the quirky and grotesque, the exhibition has historical pieces, such as the cardigan Marilyn Monroe wore in her final photo shoot, a 545lb meteorite that hit Earth and a 3,000lb piece of the Berlin Wall.

There are also distinctly British pieces, including a 13ft replica of London’s Tower Bridge made from matchsticks, a Swarovski-covered crystal Mini and models of the royal family made from giant ants.

You must see it to believe it — or not.