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A brief historical overview
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n the 1950s in the United States, the Domestic shorthair, which later became the American shorthair, faced stiff competition from the British shorthair, a British cat breed of similar development and highly recognizable morphological type. In order to obtain rounder-looking American shorthairs, American breeders cross a green-eyed Persian with an American shorthair. The kittens resulting from these crosses are gradually introduced into American shorthair lines, but the most typical individuals retain the characteristic Persian morphology, while having a shorthair coat: the ancestors of the Exotic are born.
These “short-haired Persians” are carefully selected. New crosses are made by breeders to stabilize the breed. In particular, they use Persian and British shorthair, but also Burmese and even Russian blue1, to give their coat a plush appearance. Although the original Persian shorthair coat was silver, which almost led to the breed being named “Sterling”, new colors soon appeared.
The Exotic Shorthair was first shown at cat shows in the USA in 1960. Despite resistance from some Persian breeders, the breed was finally recognized in 1967. The breed was subsequently listed by the Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFé) in 1984, and by the International Cat Association (TICA) in 1989.
The breed has enjoyed great success in the United States, but is nowhere near as well known as the Persian. |
Behavior / characteristics
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| The Exotic Shorthair has a calm, cuddly, playful temperament. Some like to say it's a little more restless than the Persian, although this is not an established fact. They are also said to be easy to live with, and adapt well to life in an apartment. However, these traits are entirely individual and depend above all on the history of each cat. |
Reproduction
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| The Exotic shorthair reaches sexual maturity late, and litters are of average size. Difficulties are frequently encountered during birth, due to the large size of the kittens' heads. It's not uncommon to find kittens with long or medium-length hair, due to the breed's regular crosses with Persians. These kittens are classified as Persians in Europe, whereas in the United States they are classified as “Exotic longhair”. |
Health
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The Exotic shorthair, like the Persian, is a breed affected by polycystic kidney disease (PKD). For this reason, the LOOF strongly recommends that cats carrying this disease be excluded from breeding, in order to obtain healthy kittens. A genetic test carried out by a veterinarian using buccal swabs can identify animals carrying the PKD1 gene responsible for polycystic kidney disease. Mating healthy breeding stock is the only way to obtain a litter of 100% healthy kittens free of the disease.
Unlike the Persian, the Exotic shorthair doesn't require complicated grooming: regular combing is enough. The particular shape of its face means that its eyes tend to run, so they need to be cleaned regularly and gently, so as not to excite its tear glands even more.
Exotic shorthairs are rather greedy: their owners need to watch their diet to prevent them from becoming overweight. |
Genetics
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The gene responsible for long hair is recessive, so the breed is either heterozygous or homozygous. Heterozygotes are more numerous, given the many infusions of Persian blood into the breed, which explains why longhaired kittens are regularly found in litters.
The recessive longhair gene occasionally reappears in Exotic litters. The longhaired Exotic is considered a Persian by FIFé and TICA, and an Exotic variant by CFA and GCCF. This difference in appraisal reflects a debate over whether a breed belongs to it according to its origins (pedigree) or its appearance: the longhaired Exotic is identical to a Persian, but has Exotic shorthair parents, and not all federations recognize it identically.
The character of the dense, straight coat is determined by numerous genes with little individual effect. These genes, called polygenes, are very difficult to fix, which explains why exclusive mating between two Exotic Shortairs results in a flat coat. For the time being, therefore, infusions of Persian blood are indispensable.
Genetic research carried out by the University of California at Davis has reported the presence at very low frequency of the recessive allele responsible for the white coat of the Sacred Birman in the Exotic Shorthair. A specific genetic test exists to detect the Burmese gantage gene. |
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English (United Kingdom)