Havana Brown Cat

The Havana Brown, a cat the color of chocolate kisses, is another breed that comes from the mysterious land of Siam. Solid brown cats were described and depicted in the Cat-Book Poems, a manuscript written in the city of Ayudha, Siam, some time between 1350 when the city was founded and 1767 when the city was burned by invaders. These brown cats appear in the manuscript alongside royal Siamese, black and white bicolors, and silver-blue Korats. The people of Siam considered the burnished brown cats very beautiful and believed they protected their human companions from evil.

Solid brown (self-brown) cats were among the first felines to come to England from Siam (now Thailand) in the late 1800s. Early records describe these cats as 'Siamese, with coats of burnished chestnut, and greeny-blue eyes'. It is believed that these imports were not all of the same genetic types, but rather represent what today would be called Burmese, chocolate point Siamese, Tonkinese (Burmese/Siamese hybrids), and Havana Browns. It's hard to tell one from another from mere descriptions.

Solid brown cats were exhibited in Europe during the late 1800s and the early 1900s. A self-brown took first prize at a show in England in 1888, indicating that, at that time, fanciers valued and treasured brown cats. At a 1928 cat show, the British Siamese Cat Club gave a special award to the cat with 'the best chocolate body.' Writers of the day described these cats as 'chocolate-colored Siamese, that is, the same color all over.'

Soon after, however, self-browns fell from grace. In 1930 the Siamese Cat Club announced, 'The club much regrets it is unable to encourage the breeding of any but blue-eyed Siamese.' Solid brown cats lacking blue eyes were accordingly banned from competition and disappeared from the cat fancy.

Self-browns made their comeback in the early 1950s when a handful of English breeders decided brown was still beautiful. Working first separately and then together, these breeders studied chocolate gene inheritance and then started a breeding program, apparently using Siamese, domestic shorthairs, and Russian Blues. The breeders were striving to produce a solid-colored cat in the chocolate point coloring of the Siamese, rather than the sable coloring of the Burmese. At that time in England, the only recognized foreign breeds other than the Siamese were the Abyssinian and the Russian Blue.

In 1952 the first solid chocolate kitten to be registered in England was born. This kitten, Elmtower Bronze Idol, became the foundation cat for the new breed. Bronze Idol was produced by mating a seal point Siamese that carried the chocolate gene with a solid black cat also carrying chocolate. The black cat was the offspring of a black cat bred to a seal point Siamese. Since chocolate coloration is governed by a recessive gene, Bronze Idol had to receive the gene from both parents to express the trait.

In 1958 the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy accepted the breed for Championship competition under the name Chestnut Brown Foreign. Later, the breed was re-named Havana.

Two stories exist regarding the naming of the breed. One claims that the Havana was named after a rabbit breed of the same color. The other maintains the Havana was named after the Havana tobacco because it has the color and matt appearance of a Havana cigar.

The first Havanas reached America in the mid-1950s. The breed was given recognition in 1959 under the name Havana Brown, and in 1964 the CFA granted the Havana Brown full Championship status.