Angular2 ngSwitch with <template> only

<ng-container [ngSwitch]="activeLayout">
  <ng-container *ngSwitchCase="'layout1'" [ngTemplateOutlet]="template1"></ng-container>
  <ng-container *ngSwitchDefault [ngTemplateOutlet]="defaultTemplate"></ng-container>
</ng-container>

This is my solution when I need to make a switch of different ng-template. I hope it works for you.

Edit: This answer is outdated. See @mrodri's answer for the new syntax

That is now supported since the final release. The following code can be applied to your example :

<div *ngSwitch="thing.name">
    <template [ngSwitchCase]="foo">
        <div>FOOOOOO</div>
    </template>
    <template [ngSwitchCase]="bar">
        <div>BARRRR</div>
    </template>
    <template [ngSwitchCase]="cat">
        <div>CAT</div>
    </template>¯
    <template [ngSwitchCase]="dog">
        <div>DOG</div>
    </template>
</div>

See documentation for more info