Havana Brown

Havana Brown
Other names	Havana
Common nicknames	HB
Origin	England
Breed standards
CFA	standard
TICA	standard
AACE	standard
ACFA/CAA	standard
CCA-AFC	standard
Notes
A phenotypically similar cat is recognized by the GCCF as the Suffolk Chocolate. The Suffolk is NOT the same as the Havana Brown. The standard for the breed is different and the cats used for outcross to develop the recently created breed is different than those found in the Havana Brown. The registers CFA, TICA, ACFA and LOOF all use the same breed standard for showing and breeding the Havana/Havana Brown Cat. The Suffolk Chocolate is not allowed in the breeding lines of the Havana Brown in any of these registers.
Domestic cat (Felis catus)

The Havana Brown was the result of a planned breeding between Siamese and domestic black cats, by a group of cat fanciers in England, in the 1950s. Early breeders introduced a Siamese type Russian Blue into their breeding. However, using current genetic testing, it is believed that almost none remain in the gene pool.

It has been documented that self-brown cats were shown in Europe in the 1890s, one name given to these was the Swiss Mountain Cat. These disappeared until post-World War II, with the most likely explanation that the Siamese Cat Club of Britain discouraged their breeding. The Swiss Mountain Cat was never used in the breeding programs of the modern Havana Brown. However, they likely share genetics inherited from the Siamese.

In the early 1950s a group of English cat fanciers began working together with an intent to create a self brown cat of Foreign Type. They called themselves "The Havana Group", later to become "The Chestnut Brown Group". This group of breeders created the foundation of the Havana Brown cat of today. 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, by selectively breeding a Siamese cat which carried the chocolate gene to a black cat that also carried the chocolate gene, were able to produce chestnut (chocolate) colored kittens.

The breed continued to develop in the UK and became known as the Chestnut Brown Oriental and retained the Siamese conformation. Early in the breeding program, two kittens were also exported to Siamese breeders in the USA. Over the next decade, breeding took a different turn as genetic problems began to plague the new breed. It became necessary to utilize other breeds for genetic outcross and the phenotype began to evolve and develop into a different look than what the original breeders in England had intended. This change in direction tore apart the breeding group and caused many difficulties in continuing to progress the breed within the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. Soon, the Chestnut Brown cat was being produced in many colors, known just as Oriental with a numeric system to designate the coat color.

In the USA, the imported kittens continued to be cross bred with the Chocolate and Seal Point Siamese, producing only Chocolate or pointed offspring, with the breeders selectively breeding for only self brown kittens. Genetic diversity quickly resolved any defects that were seen in the early imports. The breeders in the USA desired to maintain the look of the cats that were imported and bred specifically for brown offspring. Thus, the cats in the United States have a different look than the cats being bred in England. The American breeders focused on maintaining the unique head shape and did not breed for extremes. This American bred version was moderate in every way, with a rich, warm mahogany color that consistently produced like offspring. In 1964, the Havana Brown was accepted for Championship status in the worlds largest feline registry, The Cat Fanciers Association (CFA).