Havana Brown Care Calendar: Teeth, Weight and Kidneys

A Havana Brown weighs 2.7-4.5 kg and its coat takes five minutes a week. The real work is in the mouth and on the scale: this breed develops gingivitis earlier than most, loses teeth to resorption, and begs convincingly enough to gain 500 g a year without anyone noticing. Add kidney screening from seven and the year is full.

The year at a glance

Window	Coat and mouth	Weight and organs
January-February	Brush weekly; lift the lip weekly to look at the gums	Monthly weigh-in; dental booking if tartar shows
March-May	Weekly brush plus a damp wipe; nails every 3 weeks	Spring weigh-in; echo if due; wet food share up
June-August	Weekly; wipe the chin after every wet meal	Water intake and urine clumps; room under 26 C
September-October	Twice weekly during the shed	Autumn weigh-in; cut treats if up 200 g
November-December	Weekly; check the canine gum line again	Year-end bloodwork from age 7, including SDMA

Coat: five minutes, once a week

The short brown coat has no undercoat to mat, so a rubber brush or a chamois once a week for five minutes is enough, followed by a wipe with a damp cloth to lift dust out of the pile. Work with the lie of the hair; the breed complains about anything rougher. In the two shed windows, March to May and September to October, go to twice a week.

Bathing is rare: every 10-12 weeks at most, and only when the coat looks flat or feels tacky. The warm brown fades in strong sun: a cat on a south-facing sill all summer looks lighter by September, which is cosmetic. Dry flakes along the spine in winter are usually heated-air dryness, and a humidifier fixes more than shampoo.

Weight, treats and the begging problem

A food-motivated cat with a loud voice: measured meals and a hard treat budget are the whole strategy.

• 3 months: 1.0-1.5 kg, four meals a day
• 6 months: 1.8-2.6 kg, three meals a day
• 12 months: 2.6-3.6 kg, two meals a day
• Adult female 2.7-3.6 kg; adult male 3.4-4.5 kg
• Daily: 1/3 to 1/2 cup dry (40-60 g) or 3-4 oz wet (85-115 g)
• Treats: 10 percent of calories at most, per this treat budget

Weigh monthly on a kitchen scale and keep the number somewhere visible. At this size, 300 g is 9 percent of body weight and shows up as a rounded belly before it shows up as a number. Use a puzzle feeder for part of the ration so the begging has an outlet, and never reward a 5 am yowl with food, because that behaviour is trained in three days and takes three months to undo.

Teeth: weekly checks, early cleaning

The mouth is this breed's weak point. Gingivitis appears earlier than in most cats, and tooth resorption is common from middle age. Once a week, lift the lip and look at the gum line where the canine meets the gum: a red margin, a thin dark line of tartar, or a receding gum is the signal. Brush three times a week with an enzyme paste, as in this dental routine; a cat that has never been brushed needs two weeks of finger-only sessions before the brush goes in.

Resorption does not always show. Watch for chattering while eating, chewing on one side, dropping hard food, a paw going to the mouth. Those signs need dental X-rays under anaesthetic; the damage sits below the gum line. Expect a professional clean every 12-24 months from age 2, and extractions rather than fillings when resorption reaches the root.

Heart and kidneys

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the main inherited concern. Echo at 12 months, then every 12-18 months while clear, every 6 months once a murmur or a thickened wall appears. Between scans, count sleeping breaths: under 30 a minute is normal, 35-40 that persists for three days needs a call, and open-mouth breathing means the car, now.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the other slow one. From age 7, run bloodwork every 12 months with creatinine, SDMA and a urine protein check; SDMA rises before creatinine does, which buys months. Watch the litter box: clumps that grow larger, a cat that drinks from the tap, or 200 g of weight loss in three months, both covered in early kidney signs. Once diagnosed, wet food and a phosphate binder do more than any supplement.

Play, travel and the room it follows you into

Two sessions of 15 minutes a day, one fetch and one puzzle, cover the exercise. This cat uses its paws like hands, so a box of safe objects, a paper bag with the handles cut, and a cup with a treat under it beat a running wheel. Add a perch by a window at 1.2-1.5 m, because the breed likes height but wants it near people.

It travels well and adapts to a flat. Start with the carrier left open in the room for a week, then 5-minute drives, then 20 minutes, always ending somewhere pleasant. Left alone all day it does not destruct; it follows you room to room and talks.

Five mistakes that cost the most

• Free-feeding a cat that begs for a living
• Waiting for a broken tooth before the first dental X-ray
• Skipping SDMA because creatinine still looks normal
• Bathing monthly to keep the brown deep
• Treating every yowl as hunger instead of boredom

The dental one is the most expensive: a resorbing tooth left alone becomes an extraction, and the first sign was usually chewing on one side six months earlier.

When to call the vet

Within 24 hours: no food for 24 hours, weight loss of 5 percent in a month, bad breath with a red gum line, or drinking more than usual for a week. Immediately: drooling with a swollen cheek, a jaw that will not close, open-mouth breathing, pale gums, or a cat that cannot pass urine. A Havana Brown in pain often goes quiet rather than vocal, so a cat that stops following you is a symptom.

Twelve months, five habits

1. Weigh monthly and write the number on the calendar.
2. Brush weekly, bathe every 10-12 weeks at most.
3. Check the gums weekly and brush teeth three times a week.
4. Echo at 12 months, then every 12-18 months.
5. From age 7, bloodwork with SDMA every 12 months.

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