Exotic Cat
Cream tabby male exotic cat
Country of origin
United States
Breed standards (external links)
AACE, CFA, TICA, FIFe Exotic Cat, Image File history File links Cosmo, a seven-month-old cream tabby exotic. ... Image File history File links Cosmo, a seven-month-old cream tabby exotic. ...

Breeders crossed the American Shorthair with the Persian in the United States around 1960. Thus were born shorthaired Persians, called Exotic Shorthairs and recognized by the C.F.A in 1966. During the breeding program, crosses were also made with the Russian Blue and the Burmese. Since 1987, the only allowable outcross breed is the Persian. The F.I.Fe. recognized the Exotic Shorthair in 1986. They have nearly the same body as the Persian, but a thick, dense short coat. They appeal to people who like the personality of a Persian but do not want the hassle of grooming a long-haired cat. They are also known as "The Lazy Man's Persian"

Movie appearance

• Tabby male, assistant to Mr. Tinkles in the film Cats & Dogs

Cats & Dogs is a 2001 comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman about the relationships between cats and dogs. ...

Appearance

The Exotic has a compact, rounded, powerfully-built body with a short, thick "linebacker" neck. Its large round eyes, short snub nose, sweet facial expression, and small ears give it a highly neotenic appearance that many people consider cute. A linebacker is a position in American and Canadian football. ... Neoteny describes a process by which paedomorphism is achieved, and is a subject studied in the field of developmental biology. ... So would this one. ...

Description

Head: Round, massive. Very broad skull. Rounded forehead. Round, full cheeks. Short, broad, round muzzle. Short, broad nose with pronounced stop. Strong chin. Broad, powerful jaws.

Ears: Small, rounded at the tip, not too open at the base. Widely spaced and well-furnished with hair on the inside.

Eyes: Large, round, well-spaced. Pure, deep color corresponding to that of the coat (gold to copper in most varieties; green in the chinchilla and the golden; blue in the white and the colorpoint).

Neck: Short and thick.

Body: Medium in size, cobby, low to the ground. Broad chest. Massive shoulders. Large-boned, powerful muscles. Weight: 3,5 - 6 kilogram.

Paw: Short, straight, and large. Round, large paws. Tufts of hair between the toes are desirable.

Tail: Short, thick, carried low. Rounded tip.

Coat: Shorthaired but slightly longer than that of other shorthaired breeds. Dense, fluffy, erect hair. All Persian colors are recognized.

Character

The Exotic Shorthair has a gentle and calm personality reminiscent of the Persian, but he is livelier than his longhaired ancestor. Curious and playful, he is friendly to other cats and dogs. Easygoing and quiet, as he rarely meows. He doesn’t like being left alone, he needs the presence of his owner, but he’s always independent. They tend to show more affection and loyalty than most breeds and make excellent lap cats. Their calm and steady nature makes them ideal apartment cats for city dwellers. Nonetheless, Exotics retain some of the energetic spark of their American Shorthair forbears and they are often capable mouse hunters. A kiss can express affection. ... Loyalty is faithfulness or devotion to a person or cause. ... Feral mouse A mouse (plural mice) is a mammal that belongs to one of numerous species of small rodents. ...

Care and grooming

Unlike the high-maintenance Persian, the Exotic is able to keep its own fur tidy with little human assistance, though weekly brushing and combing is recommended to remove loose hair and reduce shedding and hairballs. A dogs fur usually consists of longer, stiffer, guard hairs—which can be straight, wiry, or wavy, and of various lengths, hiding a soft, short-haired undercoat. ... A hairball is a collection of hair or fur formed in the stomach of animals that is occasionally vomited up when it becomes too big. ...

As with other flat-faced animals, the Exotic's tears are prone to overflowing the nasolacrimal duct, dampening and staining the face. This can be relieved by periodically wiping the cat's face with a cloth moistened with water or one of the commercial preparations made expressly for the purpose. The cephalic index is the ratio of the maximum breadth of the head to its maximum length, sometimes multiplied by 100 for convenience. ... The tear system (click for labels) Tears are a liquid produced by the bodys process of lacrimation to clean and lubricate the eyes. ... The nasolacrimal duct carries tears from the lacrimal sac into the nasal cavity. ... Water is a chemical substance that is essential to all known forms of life. ...

This robust and healthy breed does not reach maturity until around two years of age and enters puberty fairly late. When two Exotic Shorthairs are crossed, they may produce longhaired kittens called “Exotic Longhairs” by the C.F.A. but considered Persian by other registering bodies. Externally they look like Persians.