Havana Brown
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. 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 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.