The Havana Brown is a breed of cat, resulted from persistent efforts to develop a completely brown cat breed. In the early 1950s in Britain, a cross between a seal point Siamese and a black domestic shorthaired cat with Siamese heritage led to the foundation stock for the Havana Brown. The Havana Brown, also known as the Swiss Mountain cat, is a breed of cat well known and shown in England in the 1890s. Similar to the oriental shorthair, full color cats, also known as non-blue eyed Siamese, were known to interbreed with the pointed cats of Siam.
Breed Profile
: The Havana Brown is noted for its warm, chocolate brown color that reminded an early breeder of a Havana cigar. The breed did not, however, come from Cuba; the breed originated in Great Britain in the early 1950s. Brown cats resembling this breed were in Britain as early as the
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Breed Description
: The Havana is a very outgoing breed that loves following its people around. It is a very rare breed; one article estimates that there are fewer than 1,000 Havana Browns in existence, Though originally named for the brown color, a lavender frost color is also permitted in some associations
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The Havana Brown is a breed of cat, resulted from persistent efforts to develop a completely brown cat breed. In the early 1950s in Britain, a cross between a seal point Siamese and a black domestic shorthaired cat with Siamese heritage led to the foundation stock for the Havana Brown. The Havana Brown is a moderately sized, muscular short-haired cat with a body of average length. The coat color must be brown, typically reddish-brown, with no tabby markings.
During World War I and World War II, the breeding programs of pedigreed cats suffered. It was not until the post World War II era that cat fanciers renewed their breeding efforts. In the early 1950s a group of English cat fanciers began working together to restore the breed. The ladies credited with this effort include Mrs. Armitage Hargreaves of Laurentide Cattery, Mrs. Munroe-Smith of Elmtower Cattery, the Baroness Von Ullmann of Roofspringer Cattery, Mrs. Elsie Fisher of Praha Cattery, and Mrs. Judd of Crossways Cattery. These breeders produced a chestnut (chocolate) colored kitten through mating a black shorthair and a chocolate point Siamese.
Whiskers should also be brown and the eye color should be green. The head should be slightly longer than wide and the nose should have a distinct stop at the eyes. Males tend to be larger than females and are average in weight compared with other breeds.
The Havana Brown is a moderately sized, muscular short-haired cat with a body of average length. The coat color must be brown, typically reddish-brown, with no tabby markings. Whiskers should also be brown and the eye color should be green. The head should be slightly longer than wide and the nose should have a distinct stop at the eyes. Males tend to be larger than females and are average in weight compared with other breeds. The Havana Brown is an intelligent cat that often uses its paws both to examine objects and to communicate with its owners. The most likely explanation of the breed's name is that its coat color is very similar to that of Havana cigars.
The Havana Brown is an intelligent cat that often uses its paws both to examine objects, and to communicate with its owners. The most likely explanation of the breed's name is that its coat color is very similar to that of Havana cigars.
The breed has been recognized for championship competition in both the US and Britain since the late 1950s. It is considered an endangered breed, since the breeding pool is very small. In the late 1990s, there were only 12 CFA-registered Havana Brown catteries and under 130 unaltered cats.
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