Yofranlin's Havana Brown Haven

| | | | | |

HAVANA - A Cat For All Seasons But Not For All People
by Frances N. Yow

Once in a great while, humans with the help of God, can create a magnificent animal. This is exactly the case in point.

Havanas came into being just 46 years ago when the Baroness Von Ullmann set her sights on a self chocolate cat and interested Mrs. A. Hargreaves, Mrs. Munro-Smith and Mrs. E. Fisher in this project. Mrs. Munro-Smith accidentally produced the first solid brown cat in 1952. The first planned litter came in 1953 and was accomplished by transferring the Siamese chocolate to a solid colored cat. The Baroness used a chocolate point Siamese with a black domestic with an elongated body to produce the first self-chocolate off the drawing board. Later, Russian Blues were introduced into the breeding program.

The outcome of this drawing board activity is the fabulous Havana, originally brown and now in lilac. The blue gene is recessive so both parents must carry it in order to produce lilac Havanas. Havanas must carry two sets of homozygous genes, the chocolate and blue. Therefore, getting a lilac kitten is predictable and breeders should not be embarrassed to admit the breeding of lilac Havanas. Breeders should not even be upset if the occasional pointed kitten shows up in a litter. It will happen and these little darlings make wonderful pets for any cat lover not interested in breeding.

The Havana Brown is an elegant creature. If your writer was filthy rich, you would see her draped in mink, emeralds and diamonds with a stable of race horses. This is not possible so the thoroughbred racehorse of the feline world is my mink coat with a constant purr. My emeralds are those wonderful green eyes that can look at you with total devotion and you know life would never be the same without your Havana.

The first lilacs born in the Yofranlin Cattery arrived in May 1980 at three o'clock in the morning to brown parents. Needless to say, your writer thought she was still asleep and not really seeing three lilacs out of a litter of five. The parents of this litter were Grand Champion Yofranlin's Vello Castana and Champion Havana Havens Hombre'. Unfortunately, due to the untimely death of Hombre' by choking, a repeated breeding was impossible but numberous breedings of "Velli" to a series of males, some known to be carrying the blue gene, did not result in another lilac kitten. A number of breeders say they have never bred a lilac Havana, but this is a broad statement to make for long term breeders. There is one chance in four of the possibility of getting lilacs in a litter.

The pedigree of the original lilac litter shows that brown-to-brown for several generations can still produce lilac kittens if both parents are carrying the blue gene. Lilac-to-lilac breeding produces nothing but lilacs as determined by several years of breeding lilac-to-lilac. At least two catteries other than Yofranlin have had lilac kittens born to their browns. A Florida cattery advertises occasional lilacs and an Oregon cattery has produced lilacs. Two California catteries have had pointed kittens born to their browns as did Yofranlin in May of 1985. Supreme Grand Champion Charm's Hot Tamale of Yofranlin, a brown Havana, produced an exquisite lilac in the spring of 1984 when bred to Yofranlin's Sureshot. Sureshot, a brown, was sired by Betcha-booties H.A.P.P.Y., also a brown. A repeat breeding of Tamale to Sureshot produced another lovely lilac and also a blue point kitten with absolutely perfect Havana type. There were also two browns in the litter.

The International Cat Association recognizes both browns and lilacs for championship status. Years ago, ACFA created a new breed, the Lavender Oriental Shorthair for championship status because Havanas only came in brown. CFF also recognizes the lilacs.

This writer is not advocating the recognition of pointed Havanas, if for no other reason because the eyes are blue, but she is urging all associations to give the lilac the same recognition as the brown Havana. Folks, the genes are there and sooner or later, out they'll pop. You'll not be losing type with the lilac, you'll be gaining a beautiful, loving, affectionate cat that can give its owner many years of pleasure and happiness.

The only major difference in the browns and lilacs is the coat texture. Allowance should be made for a bit plusher coat on the lilacs; it does not lie as close to the body as does the brown coat. As with different textured fabrics, the lilac coat does not radiate the same sheen as does the brown. Coat color of both the brown and the lilac must be a true even shade to the roots. The brown is a single coat, short to medium length, smooth, lustrous and close lying. It is a warm brown tending towards red-brown rather than the black-brown of the Burmese. The lilac texture is more the texture of the Russian Blue and does not lie as close to the skin as does the brown. The lilac color is a warm color rather than the cold color of the Russian Blue. It has a definite rosy tint and in the horse would would be known as rose beige. In the early days of showing the lilac in the NBC classes, your author coined the word "greige" to describe the color since it is neither grey or beige but somewhere in between. Taupe is a good color description as is champagne, but whatever you choose to call it, it is a nice warm color with a great feel to the touch and pleasing to the eye.

Havanas are a medium cat standing high on their legs - the back legs a little higher than the front legs. They have big ears that prick forward to give a very alert look. The gait of the Havana is different from that of other cats. They move with a swinging gait as does a horse. From the side, their trot or run is that of a race horse. When viewed from behind, they appear to be throwing their feet out. On numerous occasions, people have been heard to remark, "Havanas walk funny".

The matchbox muzzle is unique to this breed and has been referred to an a corn cob or an afterthought - no other cat has the puppy dog look that is associated with the Havana. And to top everything else off, those wonderful soul-searching green eyes will weave a spell that will keep you trapped forever in absolute adoration of the most fantastic cat in the world.

So, my friends, if you want a cat that is different - one that stands out in the crowd and one that will be your loving friend forever - you want a Havana.

One note of warning: one association is allowing the outcrossing of Havanas to Oriental Shorthairs (OSH). Additionally, there are at least three breeders using OSH's in their breeding programs. This is a very serious mistake as the OSH type is entirely different from the Havana. The OSH has a foreign body type - very long and tubular, extremely long legs, flared ears, a long whippy tail plus every color under the sun, including white. If you want a Havana that is the unique cat as we know it today, you do not want one with OSH's in the pedigree.