Exotic Shorthair

The Exotic Shorthair exists because somebody wanted a Persian they could brush in five minutes. Crossing Persians with American Shorthairs in the 1960s produced exactly that: the round head, the stocky cobby body, the short legs, the enormous eyes and the famously unhurried temperament, all under a dense plush coat about the length of a British Shorthair's. Kittens with long coats still appear in Exotic litters and are usually registered as Persians, which tells you how thin the line between the two breeds really is.

As a cat to live with, this is one of the most restful animals in this index. An Exotic is quiet, a soft, infrequent voice, and undemanding in a way that suits small homes, older owners and anyone who works from home and does not want a cat on the keyboard. It is affectionate without being clingy: it will lie near you, follow you between rooms at a walk, and accept being picked up with more grace than most breeds. Energy is genuinely low. Expect short bursts of play, a decided preference for ground level over height, and long stretches of contented sleep. The American Shorthair inheritance shows through occasionally as a flash of interest in a toy mouse, which owners find endearing precisely because it is unexpected.

Grooming is where the breed delivers on its promise. The coat is dense, so it needs a comb or brush two or three times a week to prevent felting behind the legs and around the ruff, but the daily half-hour that a Persian demands simply does not apply. Fifteen minutes a week, honestly done, keeps an Exotic in good order.

The face is the part that requires an adult conversation. Like the Persian, the Exotic is brachycephalic, the skull is foreshortened, and the consequences scale directly with how extreme the face is. A moderate Exotic with a visible nose and open nostrils can live a completely ordinary life. A very flat, so-called peke-faced example may breathe noisily at rest, tire quickly in warm weather, have tear ducts that cannot drain so that fluid runs down the face and irritates the skin, and carry teeth crowded into a jaw too short for them. None of this is inevitable in the breed; all of it is more likely the flatter the face.

So choose accordingly. Ask to watch a kitten after five minutes of play and listen to its breathing. Ask to see it asleep. Look at the nostrils, they should be open, not slitted. Look for tear staining on the parents. A breeder who is deliberately breeding towards a more open face will tell you so proudly and will show you the evidence; one who dismisses the question is telling you something too.

Assume daily eye care regardless. Wiping the eye area with a clean damp pad each day takes a minute and prevents the cycle of overflow, staining and inflamed skin folds that makes so many flat-faced cats uncomfortable. Skin folds around the nose need the same attention. Teeth need brushing several times a week, and dental crowding makes that more important here than in a longer-muzzled cat, not less.

Two further health items belong on the list. Polycystic kidney disease has a well-characterised mutation in the Persian family, and DNA testing is straightforward and inexpensive, never buy a kitten from an untested line. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs here too and should be screened by echocardiogram in breeding cats. Both questions are entirely reasonable to ask, and the answers should be documented.

The last thing to manage is weight. A placid cat with a hearty appetite and no interest in climbing gains weight quietly, and on a short-legged frame that has consequences for joints and for the cat's ability to groom its own back end. Measure portions, weigh monthly, and run two ten-minute play sessions a day even when the cat would clearly rather not. Do those things, insist on a moderate face, and the Exotic is precisely the easy, affectionate, low-drama companion it is sold as.