We are a small, quality breeder of the rare and unique Havana brown cat. a breed that captured our hearts almost 15 years ago and we have never regretted our choice to commit to working with this fabulous breed.
You probably already know that this is a rare breed of cat and breeders around the world are few. Because we must work hard on diversity and ensure the health of our lines, we only breed a couple of litters a year. this is the case with most breeders of this unique breed. Breeding can sometimes be a logistical challenge when you don’t have a large cattery, so it requires working well together, knowing pedigrees, DNA testing cats, and staying up-to-date on what breeding cats are available around the world. the world.
Being a hobby breeder is a labor of love. the expense, time and devotion to the animals in our care, the anguish when faced with loss and the vast amount of time we spend networking with other breeders, vets, researchers, breed clubs, shows. learning history and genealogies, as well as the wonderful families that share their homes with our fur children, make this seem like so much more than a hobby. it is a love for a breed that has amazing and unique characteristics that are often not known or understood.
Since moving to the Chicago area, we’ve been on a mission to get the breed back in the public eye so everyone can see how awesome these cats are. If you’re homebound and in need of a companion to share your days with, a Havana Brown is sure to entertain you, share your daily experiences, and snuggle up in bed next to you. an active lifestyle? No problem! I have never met a breed more comfortable with travel. they take advantage of the train in the blink of an eye and are always ready for a walk, a walk in the neighborhood, a vacation by car, plane, train or sea. his sense of adventure is only surpassed by his attachment to his person. they want to be with the person they love, wherever they are. If you’re looking for a therapy pet or emotional support animal, you’ve found the right breed.
The Havana Brown is a very sensitive cat and is excellent at comforting an owner, but this same sensitivity can cause them some distress in an extremely active or stressful household. they also need a safe place to relax. we have found that they do well with one or two respectful children, but do not always thrive with children in large groups. They integrate quite well in a home with dogs, as long as the dogs are not naturally a nervous breed and the introductions are done properly. sometimes I think the bigger the dog, the more the havana brown likes them!
While not a hard and fast rule, male kittens do better in families that are more active and females like to settle in and nest (and usually choose their favorite person to become attached to). When you have a kitten, if you can get a pair, you will find that they will be happier having people to have fun with and each other to run around and get plenty of exercise. with only one kitten, you have to go the extra mile to have playtime in the morning and in the evening if you don’t want to be disturbed at night.
now about us….
we started working on the dna diversity project in 2016 when we moved to the chicago area. this was after spending a decade learning about the breed’s early development, history, and feline genetics. attend classes and seminars from some of the world’s leading genetics experts and, most importantly, consult with breeders who have been working with these amazing cats for 25, 30 and even 40 years. we finally felt we had enough knowledge to start a crossover project that could infuse new genetic material into our gene pool without sacrificing the very special characteristics our breed is known for. This has by no means been an easy task. Four years later we finally feel we have our feet under us again and are back to producing predominantly traditional Havana cats that are of excellent quality for both breeding and show purposes. They have been DNA tested for all known genetic disorders and are genetically clean! healthy and stunning… what more could you ask for?
here’s a bit of the backstory.
After working for 6 years in Europe, we moved to the United States. I am a Midwestern girl, raised on a hobby farm and I try not to hold it against my husband that he is a private school East Coast military man who knew nothing about parenting when we started this journey. who could have anticipated where our adventure would take us! in the upper midwest, we are both comfortable and planning to stay!
in 2010, the composercat cattery moved to the veneto region of italy along with a job opportunity. We had no idea what was in store for us, but every day is a new adventure and this was no exception! Before traveling to Europe, we were breeding and showing our beautiful cats in the United States. we lived in new york and often attended shows up and down the east coast. we did much more demos than reproduction. we built relationships with the other breeders and learned a lot about the history of the breed. but most of all, we fell in love… our house had become a splatter of brown! there was no doubt that we would carry on, even after leaving the country (despite not having much language skills, we managed just fine). the grande dame of europe, claire rassat, took us under her wing and introduced us to the world of cat shows in europe. we find in her a wonderful breeding partner whom we love and respect. soon more arrived and before long we had six havana brown breeders in europe and two in russia. We had the pleasure of showing our cats in Europe and all over the world. we have attended shows in austria, belgium, england, finland, france, holland, germany, italy, netherlands, spain, sweden, slovenia & Switzerland. We mainly exhibit at cat fanciers association shows, but our cats have also been featured at tica, acfa, gccf, loof, fife and wcf anfi shows.
as our kitties headed to st. petersburg, dubai, denmark, england, canada and many more places around the world, we have built an incredible family.
It has been my pleasure to introduce this wonderful breed to many people around the world and to give more cat lovers the opportunity to experience the beauty, affection and intelligence of the havana brown. all of our lines are endorsed by national and regional winners. , best of breed and great champions. we have diverse pedigrees and healthy cats that are recognized as outstanding examples of the breed standard at shows around the world. the health and character of our cats are the most important thing to us and this is reflected in the longevity of the lines and the docile temperament of our cats and kittens. we started our breeding program under the direction of dr. Karen Rogers, a well-known and respected Havana Brown breeder and veterinarian in the United States. We have also been fortunate to have benefited from the wisdom of other well known and respected brown cigar breeders, with decades of breeding experience, who have many healthy offspring living with their loving families throughout the world. our cats come from proven, strong genetic lines with diversity to maintain health. We follow research from the Winn Feline Foundation, Morris Animal Foundation, Cornell Veterinary School, U.C. davis, uw wisconsin and university of illinois school of veterinary medicine, mississippi state and kansas state veterinary schools, as well as glasgow university school of veterinary medicine. we use their disease research and best practices in the breeding, vaccination and health care of our cats. sometimes this just seems like a full time job! we have an open cattery and prospective kitten owners are always welcome to come and visit with us and our cats/kittens, meet the parents and see the loving environment we provide for our cats in our small cattery we make sure to meet with all potential owners before placing our kittens in their homes. we generally have only one or two litters each year and do not breed for profit. As anyone who owns a small cattery and shows their cats can tell you, it’s an expensive hobby with no financial gain. We bred out of our love and passion for the Havana Brown and in the hope that we can share the wonder of this exceptional breed with other families around the world who have the same appreciation for cat art. To learn more about the Havana Brown or if you would be interested in bringing one into your home, contact us at: [email protected] or complete the kitten quiz on our contact page. follow composercat havana browns on facebook, through our website, blog or join our mailing list.
private email to [email protected]. you can also watch many videos of our cats and kittens on youtube on the composercat channel. before concluding this people often wonder why we decided to become hb breeders. well initially we just wanted to find a cat – the perfect breed that would make an ideal companion and get along with our other cat and our large breed dog. we bought a neutered boy (rachmaninov) and after visiting a breeder at a cat show we decided to get a quality kitten to try out for the cat show. Well, we loved showing so much that we started helping another breeder show his cats too. the passion that people have for their cats is evident. what better way to spend a weekend than with other people who share a common interest. we’d share Saturday night meals and talk about our breeds, demonstrate techniques, organize carpools to upcoming shows, get helpful tips on how to groom or prepare the cat for a show… soon, the love for this amazing breed spread to us. led to wanting to try breeding. I guess it had to happen… but we thought. .. maybe just have a litter. and after that litter, that’s how it all started…enjoy our photo gallery and you too can experience a bit of our journey.for composercat cattery, breeding started with vivaldi… gc havacats vivaldi de composercat, dm2008 – cfa north atlantic region best of breed 2009 – cfa 3rd best of breed internationally 2009 – cfa north atlantic region best of breed 2009 – havana brown fanciers best 2013 Breed – 2014 CFA Distinguished Merit Award – Featured in the June Issue of Cat Magazine Fancyvivaldi is our Foundation Queen and was our fourth Havana Brown to show, but the first breeding cat of our exclusive ownership. she was raised by karen & lowell rogers at havacat cattery and he was a perfect cat to start our breeding program. Since then, she has garnered numerous awards, including the title of distinguished merit, achieved by producing five grand champion offspring. She produced many beautiful pups that have been shown and bred by breeders both in the US and Europe and she has grandchildren all over the world. We are very proud of this girl and all of her achievements and we are very grateful to all who continue in her line. scarlatti (indy) and pachelbel (belle) other ‘big’ accomplishments for our kennel include:
cfa region 1gp havacats rachmaninov from composercatgc havacats kinnickkinnick, dmgc havacats green-eyed lady from composercat
cfa region 9 – europe
gc oberlin’s h. berlioz from composercatgc bw rw composercats corelli from mokolea (thank you diane for showing and loving our girl)gc composercats scarlattigc composercats rossinigc gp composercats giannini (baby grand)gc composercats pachelbel (1 show -baby grand) cfa’s 3rd best of breed in 2014 featured in argosqgc magazine rw composercats amadeus of havana breizh (the founding queen of anne & stephane gateau)gp composercats stravinsky of phos hilaron (loved and shown by alicia herman)gp rw composercats shaperin of kastra – great distinction ( so proud of him, thanks harry & leone)gp rw composercats kabalevsky (2 great show! -loved by calvin and beautifully displayed by uncle olivier)
back in the united states
cfa region 6 – midwest
gc rw phoshilaron oberon de composercat
gc bw xocol zaya de composercat
gc rw bw havacats whiskey blues by composercat
gc saphira mme butterfly by composercat
gc havalots qi’ra by composercat
ch gp composercats mikado
ch rw composercats lady day of 5acre farm
gc composercats tupac shukar
ch rw havacats buttonwood cay of composercats
gc rw havacats whiskey in waikiki by composercat
ch rw composercats miss saigon by kaffeekats
vivaldi (viv) and green eyed lady (lady) as well as our beautiful stallion berlioz have already gained their wings and we miss the day to day. but many times I see them reappear in the kittens that arrive. they retired in middle age but have left behind five generations of their children who bring joy to us and other families every day.
From now until the fall of 2022, we will continue to finish our breeding program. two or three litters to go and then we’ll take a couple of years off.
