Blessed with a gorgeous coat that is much easier to look after than the Persian’s, the Exotic Shorthair cat appeals to many people. Its temperament shows the best qualities of its varied ancestors, and it is also healthy and long lived.
Did you know that even an experienced cat breeder cannot tell which kittens in a litter of Exotics will be longhairs and which will be shorthairs.
History
Before the Exotic was recognized for championship showing in 1967, many breeders of American Shorthairs (previously called Domestic Shorthairs) broke the rules by breeding them to Persians to improve the coat. The results of these matings did far better in the show ring than true Domestic Shorthairs with full pedigrees, but the practice led to falsification of pedigrees and surprises in litters when two shorthairs combined to produce longhaired kittens.
Finally, the Cat Fanciers’ Association was persuaded in 1967 to establish a new breed called Exotic, to legitimize the combination of such diverse breeds as Abyssinians, Burmese, American Shorthairs and Persians. In recent years, however, the only breed that can legally be used to produce Exotics is Persian, and the breed now closely resembles the Persian in every way, except in the length of the coat.
Description
The Exotic is a heavily boned, well balanced cat. Its body is stocky, low on the legs, broad and deep through the chest and equally massive across the shoulders and rump, with a well rounded midsection and level back. Although it is a medium to large cat, the quality of characteristics is more of a determining consideration than size. The head is round and massive, with great breadth of skull. The face is round with round underlying bone structure, and is set on a short, thick neck. The nose is short, snub and broad, with a break between the eyes. The nose leather is in harmony with the coat color. The cheeks are full and the jaws broad and powerful. The brilliant eyes are large, round and full, set level and far apart.
The ears are small with round tips, tilted forward and not unduly open at the base. They are set far apart and low on the head.
The legs are short, thick and strong and the forelegs are straight. The paws are large, round and fir, with pads to harmonize with the coat color.
The tail is short, bushy and in proportion to the body. It is normally carried low. The coat is dense, plush, soft and full of life, and has a rich, thick undercoat. It stands well out from the body. Although very easy to groom, this needs to be done regularly, especially when the cat is shedding its winter coat, in order to avoid hairballs. Comb with a medium toothed comb to remove dead hair and brush with a rubber brush.
Varieties
The Exotic Shorthair comes in all colors and patterns, including colorpoint. Their eye color must conform to their coat color in order to be shown. These are just a few from the vast selection of Exotics.
Blue : light blue (lighter shades preferred) and an even tone from the nose to the tip of the tail ( a solid darker shade is more acceptable than a slightly patterned lighter shade). The nose leather and paw pads are blue and the eyes are brilliant copper.
Blue Cream : blue with clearly defined patches of solid cream well broken up all over the body, legs and tail. The nose leather and paw pads are blue and pink and the eyes are brilliant copper.
Smoke Tortie : the ground color is white with the end of each hair deeply tipped with black and red in the clearly defined patches of the tortoiseshell pattern (until it moves, the cat looks like a tortoiseshell); a blaze on the face in red is desirable. The nose leather and paw pads are brick red or black and the eyes are brilliant copper.
Black Smoke : the ground color is white with the end of each hair deeply tipped with black (until it moves, the cat looks solid black). The points and mask are black with only a narrow band of white on each hair near the skin. The nose leather and paw pads are black and the eyes are copper.
White : pure white fur with no shading or marking and no black hairs. The nose leather and paw pads are pink and the eyes are brilliant copper, blue or odd eyed (one blue and one copper).
Chocolate : warm, medium to dark chocolate coat, even in color with no shading, markings or white hairs. The eye rims, nose leather and paw pads are chocolate and the eyes are brilliant copper.
Red Tabby : the ground color is light red with rich vibrant, mahogany red markings. The nose leather and paw pads are brick red to salmon pink and the eyes are brilliant copper.
Brown tabby and white : ground color, including lips and chin, is a rich tawny brown. Markings are black and the nose leather is brick red outlined with chocolate. The paw pads are deep brown to black and the eyes are copper. Some associations require that the white portion comprises at least one third of the cat and includes an inverted V on the face. Others allow any proportion of brown tabby and white, with no preference given to the amount of white or lack thereof.
Tortie and white (calico) : the coat is white with patches of red and black distributed in any proportion. The eyes are copper. The red and black may also be in a chinchilla, shaded, smoke or torbie pattern. Calicos also come in blue cream (called dilute calico by some), lilac cream or chocolate cream.
Colorpoint : the points and mask are darker than the ground color, but are in harmonious shades, and the nose leather and paw pads conform to the point color. The eyes are blue.
Temperament
The Exotic has a lively, friendly, lovable nature and seldom makes a sound. It is a sweet and loyal companion, easy to live with and very affectionate.
The aim in breeding the Exotic Shorthair (known simply as the Exotic in the United States) was to produce a Persian cat without the long hair to reduce the grooming commitment.
These shorthaired cats are judged in the Longhair Persian type section, which can cause some confusion for newcomers to the showing scene.
Brilliant orbs of gold copper are startling against the solid density of the Black Exotic Shorthair. The nose leather and paw pads are black.
In facial make up and expression, body shape and even character, the Exotic Shorthair has all the characteristics of the Persian Breeds, and is even available in the same colors and variations. It is a medium sized cat with a short body, short, thick legs and large paws.
Eyes complement of the rich red of the Red Tabby’s coat. Brilliance of eye color is an important distinction for this breed in general.
The head is round, with a short nose and small, wide set, round tipped ears. Breeders of British Shorthairs maintained a policy for a long time of out crossing to Persian cats every fourth generation or so.
A Silver Tabby shows off her eyes lined in black like a Chinchilla. Her shorter coat, however, appears more darkly tipped and the pattern more obvious than that of the longhaired shaded Silver.
They wanted to encourage massiveness of bone and intensity of eye color in the existing breed, rather than create a new one. Persian type was not, in fact, very distant from the British Shorthair and was therefore likely to improve it.
American breeders, however, did not have a large gene pool of British Shorthairs. They therefore used the Burmese (which was the one really round headed cat they did have), and later the American Shorthairs. They therefore used the Burmese (which was the one really round headed cat they did have), and later the American shorthair.
The coat of a Blue Cream Exotic shows definite, but scattered areas of cream among the subtle shades of soft blue grey.
They way in which the American cat fancy had developed the Burmese from its introduction in the early 1930s had ensured that its head shape and eye shape were closer than any other breed to Persian Longhair type. This meant it was only a matter of a few generations of kittens before the Exotic Shorthair was successfully developed in the 1960s. Since 1968, Burmese and British Shorthairs have not been allowed in Exotic Breeding programs in the United States.
A Tortoiseshell and White Exotic has the required rich tones of red set among the dense black base color. The red blaze on the face is a bonus.
It soon became popular and is now bred in the full range of self colors, bi-colors, tabbies and tortoiseshells, and shaded, tipped and color pointed varieties. Judging standards are very stringent, with an emphasis on brilliance of eye color. Any hint of slanted eye shape from the Burmese contribution to its lineage, or a fleck of rogue color in the iris is frowned upon. The Exotic shorthair has the placidity and dignity of the Persian, yet has a playful and affectionate side. It is patient with children, and is contended to be an indoor cat.
Despite being shorthaired, the coat is longer than other shorthaired breeds and requires more attention. It benefits from daily grooming. You can also try brushing or combing from tail to head, against the pile of the fur to encourage the fur to stand up, brush like, from the body.
A Tortoiseshell Colorpointed Exotic demosntated the distinctive Persian Body conformation with the large, round head, full body and shortish tail and legs.
Persian features combine with the blue eyes of colorpointed variaties in the Tortoiseshell Colorpointed Exotic. The colorpointed range is fully represented in the breed.
Exotic Shorthair Breed Information
Coat – medium, slightly longer than other shorthairs, but not long enough to flow, dense, plush, soft, full of life, not flat or close lying
Eyes – large, round, bright, color reflects coat color
Other features – small, blunt ears, set wide apart and leaning slightly forward
Grooming – easy, thorough, daily brushing and combing
Temperament – gentle, affectionate, good natured, inquisitive, playful
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