Visiting Kuching’s Cat Museum

Kuching, Malaysia is known as “Cat City” for the Malay word kucing. While I didn’t see stray cats roaming around in the Borneo city like I did in Croatia and Turkey, you could see that they sure love their felines. Upon pulling into the parking lot of our hotel, we saw a large group of tourists gathered around a statue of a large group of cats, snapping photos. There was certainly something different about this island.

When I first saw the words “cat museum” on our itinerary, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry. Surely, this is a joke. Something to test the silly American travel bloggers. But it turns out the Cat Museum, located on the top of the hill at city hall, is one of the most popular attractions in town. We soon found out why.

We entered through a giant cat’s mouth as we saw what started as a collection and became a full-on obsession. The museum was created in 1993 as the brainchild of Sarawak chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and his wife Laila Taib. The over 1,000 square meters of space is filled with over 4,000 artifacts all devoted to cats.

The items were first acquired in the 1980s for the National Museum in Kuala Lumpur but moved to their present feline-friendly home when the building was completed ten years later. They range from cat collectibles, keychains and stuffed animals to clothing inspired by cats and even a mummified cat.

There were also photos of famous cats or famous people with their cats, pictured above.

The galleries cover the significance of cats to Kuching’s history and Malay culture, as well as in ancient Egypt. They also dive into cats in art, the biology of cats and famous cats like Hello Kitty and Garfield.

A more bizarre section included the grave of a cat. This isn’t a natural history museum, so if you have plans to spend the whole day here you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re looking for a unique and kitschy day in a place you won’t find anywhere else, it’s worth the drive up to the Cat Museum.

Getting There

The Cat Museum (Muzium Kucing) is free to visit. To get to the Cat Museum, take bus Petra Jaya Transport No. 2B or 2C from Kuching.

I visited the Cat Museum in Kuching on behalf of Tourism Malaysia.