York Chocolate

Photo: adult cat of York Chocolate breed
© Ciprian Gherghias / Shutterstock

This breed gets its name from the state it hails from, New York, with the ‘chocolate’ part being added on the end, due to its brown colouring. The first York Chocolate kitten came to be as if by accident, born among a litter of moggy cats whose parents were both long-haired, and neither of which had brown or chocolate fur!

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Life expectancy

The York Chocolate has a life expectancy of between 15 and 20 years

Temperament

Adult size

Female Approximately 12 in
Male Between 12 and 14 in

Adult weight

Female Between 9 and 11 lb
Male Between 13 and 18 lb
Coat colour
Brown
Type of coat
Long
Eye colour
Blue
Green
Yellow
Odd-eyed
Good to know

Kittens can sometimes have tabby markings on their coat, which last for about a year and a half before disappearing.

More details about the York Chocolate

York Chocolate: Origins and history

This breed came about in the eighties, when an American woman called Janet Chiefari had a litter of moggy cats, one of which stood out from the others because of its chocolatey colour. When she grew up, the same cat had kittens herself, and some of them also had the same chocolate coat. The pairings that followed then allowed this distinctively coloured breed to develop. Chiefari began attending exhibitions and introduced her cat into the bloodlines of certain Siameses, choosing individuals with slightly rounder heads in order to preserve her own cat’s basic morphology as much as possible. This is how the lilac variety came to be. 
The breed wasn’t officially recognised until 1992, and they remain very rare, with only about a hundred York Chocolates in existence.

York Chocolate: Purchase price

We do not have enough data to set an average price for a York Chocolate. The price varies depending on the lineage of the kitten, their breeding, their age when purchased or even their sex. For your monthly budget, you should allow around £25 per month to cater to their needs in terms of buying litter and quality food.

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2 comments

  • Beenie77
    Beenie77
    Beautiful natured cats ,Beautiful fluffy big tail
  • Beenie77
    Beenie77
    We have a York chocolate maybe a cross not sure as I've seen some with white chest also .
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