Are Brown Cats Rare?

You may have recently come across a brown cat, or perhaps you are interested in buying or adopting a brown cat before suddenly realizing that you haven’t really come across brown cats before.

​Brown cats are actually rare to find because the brown coloring is a result of genetic mutation meaning that the majority of brown cats that you come across have most likely been a result of crossbreeding.

In this guide, we’ll be taking you through the various brown cat breeds that you can come across, so you can decide which one is best for you. 

​Brown Cat Species

​There are all sorts of cats that can have brown coloring. In this section, we’ll be delving into the most well-known cat breeds that can have brown coloring, so you can decide which one is best for you.

Havana Brown

The first option is also the one that is renowned for being the only “fully chocolate brown” colored cat.

The Havana Brown is the rarest cat on this list as it is said that there are fewer than 1,000 of these beautiful cats left in the world. Compared to the 200 million total cats overall around the world, the Havana Brown is one of the rarest cat breeds. 

The Havana Brown was created by breeding black domestic shorthairs, Russian blue, and Siamese cats. They are known for their fully chestnut brown coloring that even extends to their whiskers.

British Shorthair

The next option is the British shorthair which is defined by its soft and thick coat as well as its large amber eyes.

This breed is available in a variety of different colors, but the brown color British Shorthair was established through crossbreeding as the British Shorthair was crossbred with a chocolate Persian. 

Due to the crossbreeding, this means that the actual shade of the brown coloring can differ and there have been British Shorthairs with lighter brown coloring to extremely dark coloring. There is also a cinnamon color variation that makes the amber eyes stand out even more.

Burmese Cat

The Burmese Cat was first introduced in the 1930s in the United States and has developed its brown coat through a selective breeding process. There are four color variations that the Burmese Cat is known for which are:

• Blue (a medium gray that has fawn undertones)
• Champagne (a warm beige)
• Platinum (a pale gray)
• Sable (a rich and dark brown)

Although the sable color is beautiful and extremely popular, the most sought-after color variation of a Burmese Cat is actually the blue variation. 

Devon Rex

Although the name may seem very dramatic, the Devon Rex is a popular cat breed that is defined by its tall ears, wavy coat, and slender physique. They are also renowned for their rich brown coloring variation. 
The Devon Rex can come in all sorts of brown coloring, but the most popular shade of brown is the rich chestnut color.

Oriental Shorthair

The Oriental Shorthair is an energetic cat breed that can come in either a beautiful cinnamon color variation or a full brown variation.

It was established through crossbreeding by breeding a Siamese with a variety of different cats. However, the Oriental Shorthair has not achieved purebred recognition. 

This cat breed is known for its striking appearance that includes many interesting features such as a triangular head and a lean body that have made them extremely popular.

Persian

The penultimate kind of cat breed that is available in brown color is the Persian. Persians are available in all sorts of brown shades but bear in mind that a brown Persian is still among the rarest that can be found within this breed.

As mentioned earlier, Persians were used during the breeding process that eventually led to the brown British Shorthair. 

York Chocolate

Our final inclusion in this list is the York Chocolate breed which is a semi-longhair cat that is known for its dark brown coating. This breed was first discovered in the 1980s but does not have the same level of recognition as other breeds mentioned in this list. 

What is fascinating about the York Chocolate breed is that their brown coat actually grows darker with age. There are many shades that the York Chocolate cat is available in including:

• Bicolor chocolate
• Chocolate brown
• Lilac
• White

This cat is so rare that it has actually been declared extinct, although there are plenty of cats that look similar to this breed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Rarest Color Of A Cat?

Although brown is a rare color for a cat to be, the rarest color that a cat can be is albino. This is because albino cats have two recessive alleles within the C gene that causes complete albinism.

Due to the extremely low odds of a cat having both recessive alleles, albino coloring is the rarest type of cat you can find.

Do Fully Brown Cats Exist?

Fully brown cats do exist but are statistically extremely rare to come across. The reason that brown cats are so rare is that the brown color is a result of a genetic mutation from a single recessive color gene.

There are many cat species that have predominantly brown coloring, but the only completely deep brown cat is the Havana Brown cat.

How Rare Is An All-Brown Cat?

Statistically, all-brown cats are extremely rare, although you may come across one at some point or other. There are over 200 million cats around the world, but less than 1,000 of these are Havana Brown cats, which are the only species of cat deemed “fully brown”.