As its name implies, the flat-headed cat (
Felis planiceps) is pretty odd-looking. It has a long, narrow
head, a flattened
forehead, small, low-set
ears, unusually large
eyes over an elongated
snout, and short
legs; they have been compared to the
civet rather than the other
felines in their appearance. This cat generally weighs 4 to 5 pounds and has golden-brown fur all over. They are found in
Indonesia,
Malaysia, and
Thailand.
Like the fishing cat, the flat-headed cat spends a lot of time in the water and its unusual body helps it to do so; in captivity they play in water for hours and wash their food like raccoons. In addition to fish and frogs, they also eat rodents, and their existence has actually been helped away from extinction by plantations in Malaysia whose crops attract rodents and become good places for the cats to feed. But deforestation and being hunted for food does threaten the flat-headed cat.