The Havana Brown is a chocolate-coloured, green-eyed cat first bred in England in the 1950s and developed as a separate breed in the United States.
In Britain the same cats became part of the Oriental Shorthair, where Havana is the name of the chocolate colour.
The Havana Brown is a solid chocolate-brown short-haired cat with green eyes. It was created in England, but the breed that carries the name is American, and in Britain "Havana" is a colour of the Oriental.
In the early 1950s a group of English breeders set out to produce a self-coloured brown cat of Siamese type by crossing seal point Siamese with black short-haired cats. The first such kitten was born in 1952. The cats were registered as Chestnut Brown Foreign and later renamed Havana, after either the tobacco or the rabbit breed of the same colour.
From that point the story divides. In Britain the brown cats were bred back to Siamese and became part of the Oriental Shorthair. Cats exported to the United States in the mid-1950s were bred without Siamese crosses and kept a distinct, more moderate shape, which became the Havana Brown.
The American breed is medium-sized and firmly muscled. Its head is longer than it is wide, with a characteristic muzzle that looks squared off and set onto the skull, large forward-tilted ears and oval green eyes. The coat is short, smooth and an even warm brown, and the whiskers are brown as well, which is unusual in cats.
Havana Browns are affectionate, curious and people-oriented, and are known for reaching out with a paw to touch and investigate. They are quieter than Siamese.
The coat needs only occasional brushing. The breed has no notable inherited diseases, but its gene pool is very small, and American registries have permitted outcrosses to keep it viable.
The Havana Brown is recognised by the American registries and is rare even there. It is not a separate breed with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy; a British "Havana" is a chocolate Oriental Shorthair.