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About Exotics
 The Exotic has long been called the Lazy Man's Persian. As Lorraine Shelton explained in her article, "Exotic Genetics," the Exotic Shorthair was created by crossing Persians to a variety of shorthaired cats and then crossing the resulting shorthairs continually back into the Persian breed to ultimately attain the extreme type of the Persian cat.
When comparing the Exotic and Persian breeds, the type is pretty much the same - except unlike a Persian, with its long, luscious coat, an Exotic has a short, plush coat.
Many Exotic breeders continue to use Persians in their breeding programs in order to refine the type, producing Exotic Longhairs. The Cat Fanciers Association is the only registry that doesn't permit the exhibition of Exotic Longhairs in championship class. Other registries, such as ACFA, TICA, AACE, ACA, UFO and CFF recognize the Exotic Longhair.
TICA, for example, allows Exotic Longhairs to compete as Persians, because they look like Persians. Other associations, such as ACFA, have created separate breed for Exotic Longhairs.
The Cat Fanciers Association standard calls for an Exotic Shorthair to be a heavy boned, well balanced cat with a sweet expression and soft, round lines. The large, round eyes set wide apart in a large round head contribute to the overall look and expression. The thick, plush coat softens the lines of the cat and accentuates the roundness in appearance.
The head is round, smooth and massive with great breadth of skull and well-set on a short thick neck. The break of the short, snub and broad nose is centered between the eyes. The cheeks are full. The jaws are broad, and the ears are small, round tipped and low on the head. The eyes are in brillian and color, large, round and full.
All of this is set on a cobby, massive body on short, thick legs with a short tail.
NOTE: Unlike Persians, where there are numerous divisions within the breed, all Exotics are not separated in CFA by divisions..
Sources:
The Exotic breed standard, The Cat Fanciers Association, March 2007.
Shelton, Lorraine, "Exotic Genetics," The Long & The Short of It, Spring 2008.
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