Cats are adorable and instinctively equipped with strong senses. Apart from that, their magnificent fur color is eye-catchy. When you look around, the majority of the cats are black, white, or dual-colored but a rare shade you would ever witness is a complete brown cat.
Indeed, the color ‘Brown’ looks royal but the question is why are brown cats rare?
According to research conducted by Lyons Feline Genetics Laboratory at the University of California, these chocolate-colored fluffy cats are brown because the TYRP1 protein(melanin producer) gene lessens the black pigment and further mutations result in the brown coat.
Read this article to get detailed information about why brown cats are rare, scientifically why is their coat color brown, and some of the best brown cat breeds that you might be interested to adopt.
Contents
- What Determines A Cat’s Coat Color?
- Why Are Brown Cats Rare?
- Different Brown Gene Variants
- Do Black Cats Turn Brown?
- 10 Rare Brown Cat Breeds
- 1. Havana Brown – Affection Is Their Charm!
- 2. York Chocolate – The Aqua Lovers!
- 3. Persian – The Furry Cats!
- 4. Burmese – The Short-Haired Glossy Cats!
- 5. Devon Rex – The Cat With Long Ears!
- 6. Oriental Short Hair – The Long-Legged Cats!
- 7. British Shorthair – Perfect Domestic Cats!
- 8. Chausie – The Wild Cats!
- 9. Scottish Fold – The Cats With Folded Ears!
- 10. Tonkinese – The Talkative Cats
- FAQs on Brown Cats
- Final Thoughts
What Determines A Cat’s Coat Color?
Now that you know how rare are brown cats, let’s deep dive into understanding what determines a cat’s coat color in the first place.
A coat color is simply determined by the amount of melanin and dominant genes in a cat’s body. Further, even those cats with recessive genes end up having light or dark shaded fur color.
Since we have laid emphasis on brown coated cats, It is the eumelanin and pheomelanin that cause some cats to have pigments of reddish brown, yellowish brown, or dark brown fur.
Why Are Brown Cats Rare?
Brown cats are rare because their recessive alleles B/b, b1/b1, b/b are known to alter the fur color into chestnut, cinnamon, or chocolate brown, and these genotypes aren’t often seen in many cats.
Usually, cats are born with fur textures such as tabby, dual-color, striped, pointed, etc.
Different Brown Gene Variants
Having studied the genetic alleles in rare brown cats, here’s what you need to know about each shade.
Chocolate Cats
Cats with a b/b genotype are totally chocolate colored. As it is a blend of recessive and dominant genes, these rare brown cats cannot give birth to chocolate-colored cats unless both the cats mating are chocolate themselves.
Cinnamon Cats
Cinnamon cats are yet another shade of brown that’s rare to find. Due to their b1/b1 genotype, their offspring are born with the same cinnamon shade and they are the next gene variant.
As far as the offspring’s are concerned, two cinnamon colored cats mating or one chocolate and another cinnamon colored cat mating would give cinnamon shaded offspring.
Diluted Shades Of Chocolate and Brown
The lightest brown colored cats are dominated by the dense pigment gene and these cats look beautiful despite being a faded shade. Besides, only if two diluted brown cats mate, there is a chance for a brown offspring to take birth. While this shade looks royal, only a few brown cats are diluted brown.
Do Black Cats Turn Brown?
The answer is ‘No’
Brown cats are rare with their natural pigment and genetic dominance for being chocolate, cinnamon, or diluted shaded but black cats do not turn brown.
In reality, black cats only appear to look brown for the following reasons :
1. Sunlight
Excessive sun rays falling on a cat’s fur tends to lighten the fur color. That being said, a black cat constantly exposed to sunlight is going to look one shade lighter than black.
2. Deficiency
Dark black cats can turn reddish brown if they have a particular amino acid and copper deficiency or even too much zinc in its body.
The reason it affects a cat’s coat color is because sufficient amino acid is required for the melanin to stay intact. Less melanin results in the lightening of cat fur.
10 Rare Brown Cat Breeds
For so long we’ve seen how brown cats are rare and why is their coat color brown.
Now let’s deep dive into exploring characteristics and names of some of the best rare brown cat breeds and you’ve probably never heard of, who knows you might fall heels over in love with one of these breeds.
1. Havana Brown – Affection Is Their Charm!
This breed is known for its royal and warm coated fur color. It has a dark reddish brown body and its green eyes will leave you amazed. It has a petite to medium body type.
These cats are friendly by nature and love to play all around. Their strong reflexes and quality of showering affection makes them even more beautiful.
2. York Chocolate – The Aqua Lovers!
This breed is known for its loyalty and calm nature. Despite being calm, they lose their cool at times.
What makes them different from the others is the desire to be independent.
They are protective about their masters but unfortunately extinct. York chocolate’s love being in water.
These cats are darker than Havanas. Cats who belong to this breed are even bicolor chocolate and white.
3. Persian – The Furry Cats!
According to American Cat Fanciers Association – These cats have soft round lines on their body and good bone weight. Their expressive eyes do most of the talking and their pretty furry body requires constant grooming.
Their voice is soothing quiet. These cats love to keep their feet firm on the ground. They are no different from dogs where expressing love is concerned.
Persian cats have a soft texture and their silky hair shines in the sunlight. While it is even believed that they are a blend of long hair cats from Persia and Russia, their origination is yet a mystery.
4. Burmese – The Short-Haired Glossy Cats!
Yet another rare brown cat breed is the Burmese. These short-haired cats are healthy, with short body, big eyes, and extra-soft texture.
Apart from this, they look marvelous and you won’t find them seated at one place as these cats love playing around. They are great with kids and love their companions.
5. Devon Rex – The Cat With Long Ears!
Devon Rex cats are brown and patterned with curly hair. Their skinny body requires quality food that is essential for their overall health.
This breed has to be kept under a strict diet because if they gain weight, it could have a severe repercussion on their joints.
This breed is best known for cuddling well. They resemble German and Cornish Rex cats but still different from the two. It is the Devon gene that give these cats a lovely texture.
6. Oriental Short Hair – The Long-Legged Cats!
This rare cat breed was first found in the UK and breeds such as Russian Blue, Abyssinian, and Siamese were bred to develop Oriental Short hair.
The coated fur color of these cats are chestnut and reddish brown. They are highly intelligent and curious. Although aggressive, they are equally loyal.
These cats have long legs and love to squeeze into small cozy places around the house.
7. British Shorthair – Perfect Domestic Cats!
British shorthair are one of the ancient cat breeds. These cats have a dark coated fur and interestingly they are not just restricted to chocolate, cinnamon , or lilac shades. They are even born black, red, and blue.
Their round face and bulky body, makes them endearing. Even their paws are round shape.
Among the rare brown cats, they are the laziest. On the brighter side, you will find them quiet, friendly, independent, and apt for a home.
8. Chausie – The Wild Cats!
The Chausie breed is indeed bold-looking and reminds you of a tiger. It is a combination of wild and domestic. These cats come down from Egypt.
Chausie’s are social, super active, and smart. Their body is medium and large built. They are so warm by nature.
These cats were produced by breeding Abyssinian and domestic shorthair. After which they were approved by the International Cat Association.
9. Scottish Fold – The Cats With Folded Ears!
If you want to adopt a cute cat, then Scottish Fold it is. They have folded ears, round faces, and not short tempered at all. It is the mutation of a dominant gene that makes their ears fold. In a way, it is abnormal.
Cats under this breed are never bred together because of the risk of giving birth to more cats with this abnormality.
When these cats hear a noise, they sit up like humans. Their tails are sensitive.
10. Tonkinese – The Talkative Cats
This rare brown cat breed will keep you entertained throughout. It is their cute bottom and sparkling eyes that you won’t be able to take your eyes off.
Tonkinese cats are medium built. These cats are known for their quality of being alert throughout. Their almond-sized eyes are yellow-gold in color.
Their shiny brown fur color has lines of black coat around their ears and on the nose.
FAQs on Brown Cats
How rare are brown cats?
Among 40 plus pedigreed breeds, precisely there are only a handful of brown cats.
Why do black cats look brown in the sun?
It is the recessive red genes that split the eumelanin pigment in cats and makes their black hair look brown in the sun.
Are brown cats expensive?
Considering the rarity in brown cats, they are expensive when directly bought from a breeder. On the other hand, they are not priced high when you go to adopt them from a shelter home.
Final Thoughts
The fact that brown cats are rare, they stand out for their chocolate, cinnamon, and diluted coated fur colors. Be it their level of activity, affection towards humans, or their skills, they are smart and meritorious.
For genetic reasons, brown cats are rare to find but every cat lover and master with brown cats at home truly celebrates their physical appearance and notable speciality in them.
Hope this article gave out information on why brown cats are rare and listed out some of the best brown breeds with a gist of their characteristics and appearance for those who dearly love cats.
