Kuching Cat Museum

Tracing the history of cats back 5,000 years, the Kuching Cat Museum houses 2,000 different artifacts, ranging from a mummified Egyptian cat to strange cat headstones. Although the Cat Museum is a mix of serious historical exhibits along with kitsch you might find in a cheap Chinatown bodega, it takes its work analyzing the history of cats very seriously.

For centuries, Southeast Asia has had a history with cats, documented in great detail at the Cat Museum. Interestingly enough, Kuching actually means cat, making the location of the museum all the more apt. Besides stuffed cats, porcelain cats, and gigantic fang doorways, the museum also recounts bizarre superstitions around the animal, like nearly drowning a cat in order to bring rain.

Outside of superstitious near-cat abuse, cat lovers should take solace in some of the more approachable exhibits, like Felis Badia, the rarest cat in the world, of which the museum is in possession of the only stuffed specimen.