# Is my rescue is a havana brown/DSH mix?



## katieb509 (Oct 20, 2010)

Hey All,

My fiance and I rescued what we thought was a black kitten from a local shelter back in late september and named her Georgia. She was almost 4 months when we got her and now she will be 10 months on March 24th! Anyway the first night we brought her home and we noticed she wasnt your stadard black kitten, but she had a reddish brown tint and very slight light tabby strips. My fiance's aunt who has had cats all her life told us that should would lose the strips and probably become darker (as she had a black cat in the past that wasnt as light in color but turned blacker as he neared a year old). Well she still hasnt gotten darker and if anything the change was more towards a rich mahongany brown color (she still has tabby strips but they are not as noticable). I started looking into it and came across havana browns. Her head conformation is not even close to a british or american havana brown except her ears. They have always been large and rounded on top which we thought she would grow into, but she hasnt. They are remarkedly close imo to havana browns and as far as color the only black on her body is down the middle of her back. I also noticed that most black cats have thick hair on their faces and you cant see skin but came across many havana brown pictures where it wasnt as think infront of their ears and around their mouths. Georgia's hair on her face is very similar in amount and look. She also has green eyes, which I know isnt uncommon but they are a similar green to the pictures I cam across of havana eyes

Her personality fits Havanas as well. She loves people, shes confident, she is attached to me way more then my fiance, although she loves him too (she cries when i leave and come home). She is totally dog like and we have noticed that from day one. SHe comes when she is called. Here are some pictures! I am not sure if you can see her coat as well in these but I'll put alot so hopefully between all of them you can see them. What do you all think? Do I have a havana brown/DSH mix?


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I have no idea, but she's ADORABLE!

Now I have Georgia on my mind!


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## katieb509 (Oct 20, 2010)

Thanks Marie! I sure hope someone on here who knows Havanas can let me know what they think! The funny thing is neither my fiance or i wanted a black cat but took her anyway because she picked us and had such a great personality! Then we get her home and find out we really dont have a black cat!  I always wanted an orange tabby and when we finally started looking thats what i had my heart set on...Georgia is better then any orange tabby cat though IMO haha!


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Georgia is adorable, but I don't think she has any Havana Brown in her...

Many black cats appear a beautiful brown especially when you see them in the sun, and the tabby stripes also become visible on some. I've had 3 black cats...2 have had the brown and one of the two had the stripes. So that is not an unusual trait. In addition, many black cats have fur that is thinner on the face, particularly in the area between the eyes and ears. The personality traits you describe could also be used with my Maine ****.

Also...Havana Browns are pretty rare cats. It's very unlikely that was accidentally bred with a DSH and the kittens landed in a shelter. Cat breeds are created by taking cats with specific traits and breeding them to make these traits predictable. So the traits are in the general population to begin with rather than pure breds mixing together.


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## NRD (Mar 31, 2010)

Georgia is stunning!! I will have to defer to doodlebug's expertise, but as the adopter of two cats this past year that were listed as Havana Brown mixes, I would say Georgia is every bit as much a Havana Brown mix as my Hersh and Little Hersh. That is to say, the rich mahogany fur, the face and ears, the confident and dog-like behavior, and the greenish eyes (which Hersh does not have, his eyes are copper). That is not to say I have two HB mixes, maybe I've just got two DSH brown cats, but when I adopted Hersh, I sent pics to a purebred cat rescue organization in California, and with the usual disclaimers, they thought I had a HB mix in Hersh. I also think mine look and act a lot like the HB featured in a Cats 101 TV show on Animal Planet that you can see on its Website. That purebred was found outside a home in Ohio and came from "out of nowhere", so it happens.

You can see thumbnails of Hersh and Hersh on my sig line, happy to show you other pics if you want. Ultimately, I find both Hersh and Little Hersh to be spectacular companions, and it doesn't matter to me if they are really HB mixes or not, though it adds to their mystique for me to think it so.

It is indeed possible for HB mixes to be in rescue, though it is indeed rare. Petfinder.com lists about 25 of them throughout the US and Canada, out of almost 150,000 cats, so that is pretty rare! I understand that purebred HBs that do not meet the standard have in fact at times been allowed to mingle with the general cat population, sometimes in not too pleasant ways, so I think it unusual but not impossible that there are a number of HB mixes out there in the general cat population. 

So welcome to the Forum and to the rarefied world of those who at least believe they have adopted HB mixes!!


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I'm no expert, but she looks like she could have Havana in her bachground. Regardless of her breed, she's an absolute sweetheart!


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## Kobster (Feb 1, 2007)

She looks like a beautiful black domestic shorthair to me. Have to agree with Doodblebug that Havanna browns are rare and unlikely to be out loose to breed indiscriminantly. When Ninja was Georgias age, he too had reddish/mahogany brown tinge to his fur, but he is a lovely dark rich black now all over (at 11 months old). 

My foster kitten is black with visible tabby stripes and reddish fur over her tummy and her fur is black at the tips but gray down the rest of the shaft. I'm eager to see if she retains all of some of these traits or grows to be jet black like Ninja. Only time will tell!

Georgia is a beauty and black cats are the BEST!


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## katieb509 (Oct 20, 2010)

Thanks for all the replies! I don't think georgia is half Havana Brown, but I still wonder like NRD said if she does have a bit in her from a rejected havana. I did read however that there are black DSH in the history of the havana brown bloodline, so maybe thats why some of her features looks similar to theirs. It doesn't really matter to me if she is or isnt, but when i came across the breed and read about them it rang a bell in respect to her personality! Also her fur was darker when we first got her...as she aged (now 10 months old) she has gotten a richer red which is why it led me to believe that maybe she had Havana somewhere in her distant past because i read sometimes havanas are born a bit darker and then get a richer mahogany and loss any tiger strips they may have been born with. Whatever she is, she is my beautiful baby who i adore regardless of if she had purebred papers or a heinz 57 stamp! haha 

Also thanks for all the compliments on her...she is quiet pleased with herself that you all think shes so pretty!


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## katieb509 (Oct 20, 2010)

Also forgot to say NRD I would love to see more pictures of your havana brown mixes...from what I can see of the ones on your thumbnail and avatar, she is quiet similar looking only a darker shade of brown. Her face is similar looking to the one on the left under your comment as well!


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## Mimosa (Dec 2, 2010)

I always wonder if lay people are not confusing chocolate Oriental Shorthairs with Havana Browns, as they are both chocolate cats with an Oriental body type.

And I see a lot of speculation about color, black cats that show a little reddish/brownish discoloration, but if you see a chocolate cat in the flesh you'll have no doubts; it is really chocolaty brown, definitely not blackish.


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