The Exotic Shorthair is a breed of cat developed as a short-haired version of the Persian. The Exotic is similar to the Persian in appearance with the exception of the short dense coat.

History

In the late 1950s, the Persian was used as an outcross by some American Shorthair breeders. This was done in secret in order to improve their body type, and crosses were also made with the Russian Blue and the Burmese. The crossbreed look gained recognition in the show ring, but unhappy American Shorthair breeders successfully produced a new breed standard that would disqualify American Shorthairs that showed signs of crossbreeding. One American Shorthair breeder who saw the potential of the Persian/American Shorthair cross proposed and eventually got the Cat Fanciers' Association judge and American Shorthair breeder Jane Martinke to recognize them as a new breed in 1966, under the name Exotic Shorthair. In 1987, the Cat Fanciers' Association closed the Exotic to shorthair outcrosses, leaving Persian as the only allowable outcross breed.

Description

Appearance

The Exotic Shorthair is a medium to large sized breed just like the Persian. The head of the Exotic Shorthair is round and large. The ears are small with a well rounded tip that face low on the head. The cheeks are full and rounded. The eyes are large and round. The tail is short compared to the length of the body. Just like the British Shorthair and the Persian the Exotic Shorthair comes in all different colour variations.

Longhair Exotics

Because of the regular use of Persian as outcrosses, some Exotics may carry a copy of the recessive longhair gene. When two such cats mate, there is a 1 in 4 chance of each offspring being longhaired. Longhaired Exotics are not considered Persians by the Cat Fanciers' Association, although The International Cat Association accepts them as Persians. Other associations like the American Cat Fanciers Association register them as a separate Exotic Longhair breed.

Health

Like the Persian the Exotic Shorthair is a brachycephalic breed, meaning that it has problems as a result of having the nose and eyes in close proximity to each other, giving the appearance of a pushed-in face. Some conditions common in the Exotic Shorthair are listed below. In a review of over 5,000 cases of urate urolithiasis the Exotic Shorthair was significantly under-represented, with only one of the recorded cases belonging to an Exotic Shorthair.

Recognition

The Exotic has steadily gained popularity among cat fanciers with the help of the devoted advocates of the breed who saw the value in a Persian and Shorthair crossbreed.