 |
| Havana Brown |
Havana Brown HEAD: when viewed from above, the head is longer than it is wide, narrowing to a rounded muzzle with a pronounced break on both sides behind the whisker pads. The somewhat narrow muzzle and the whisker break are distinctive characteristics of the breed and must be evident in the typical specimen. When viewed in profile, there is a distinct stop at the eyes; the end of the muzzle appears almost square; this illusion is heightened by a welldeveloped chin, the profile outline of which is more square than round. Ideally, the tip of the nose and the chin form an almost perpendicular line. Allowance to be made for somewhat broader heads and stud jowls in the adult male. Allow for sparse hair on chin, directly below lower lip.
Havana Brown LEGS AND FEET: the ideal specimen stands relatively high on its legs for a cat of medium proportions in trunk and tail. Legs are straight. The legs of females are slim and dainty; slenderness and length of leg will be less evident in the more powerfully muscled, mature males. Hind legs slightly longer than front. Paws are oval and compact. Toes: five in front and four behind.
 |
| Havana Brown |
Havana Brown TAIL: medium in length and in proportion to the body; slender, neither whip-like nor blunt; tapering at the end. Not too broad at the base.
Havana Brown COAT: short to medium in length, smooth and lustrous.
Havana Brown DISQUALIFY: kinked tail, locket or button, incorrect number of toes, any eye color other than green, incorrect color of whiskers, nose leather or paw pads.
Havana Brown COLOR: a rich and even shade of warm brown throughout; color tends toward red-brown (mahogany) rather than black-brown. Nose leather: brown with a rosy flush. Paw pads: rosy toned. Whiskers: brown, complementing the coat color. ALLOW FOR GHOST TABBY MARKINGS IN KITTENS AND YOUNG ADULTS.
Havana Brown In Breeders
When we first started with Havana Browns in 2011, we knew their gene pool was limited, but when
it took us almost two years to acquire unrelated breeders, we knew the breed had a severe problem.
The result of the Winn Foundation study was a total confirmation. We had acquired our first female
from Rich Bilello. Rich, who was our Havana Brown mentor, was outcrossing with a black cat, but
outcrossing was not sanctioned at the time.
We were interested in outcrossing, but with a CFA registered Chestnut Oriental cat, so we waited until outcrossing was permitted. Finding an Oriental breeder who was willing to allow an outcross took a while. Fortunately, we had become friends with Terri Zettler of Kuroneko Cattery and Anne Brocklebank of Psyche Cattery. At the Classy Cats Show in St. Petersburg, Fl. in Dec. of 2010, Anne brought us Psyche Rockbiter who was perfect. He was a Chestnut Oriental who looked like a Havana Brown. He had a square muzzle, green eyes and a super personality.
 |
| Havana Brown |
Anne said cats like him occasionally turned up in her breeding program and she hoped he would be right for ours. She gave him to us with no strings attached. Thank you Anne! Norma was a judge at this show and got to briefly see him. We took him home and waited and waited for him to mature. Fortunately, the penny finally dropped and we had our first outcross litter of three boys on 1/31/2002. They were all brown and looked like Havana Browns except for a slight narrowness of the head. Eye color was great in two of them. We kept the best boy and Ed named him Ratso, because he was an outcross, outcast as was Ratso in the movie Midnight Cowboy.
We easily sold the other two boys to people on our waiting list who felt if it looked like a Havana
Brown that was fine with them. Unfortunately we thought Ratso had bred with one of our Havana
Brown females, so we placed him with another Havana Breeder. To our dismay the pregnancy did
not take, so we have had to wait for another F-1 to mature. We now have a very nice F-1 female who is almost old enough to breed. We plan to breed her with our GC Thunderball and are looking
forward to the results.
We have been pleased with the results of our outcross program and are more than willing to help other breeders who are interested. We feel the more Havana Browns who are visible, whether as pet or show (Kitten, Championship or Premiership) the better the outlook will be for this charismatic cat. It is our hope that more Havana Breeder will participate in the outcross program.
