A Kitten at Heart

The low-maintenance coat and kitten-like personality of the Exotic make it a favorite with cat lovers.

Take a sweet-faced, easygoing Persian. Add a shorthaired coat. Mix in a dash of kitten playfulness. What do you have? The gentle, affectionate Exotic.

Sometimes called a "wash-and-wear Persian," the Exotic takes all the favored characteristics of the Persian — from the pansy face to the cobby body — and covers it with a plush, shorthaired coat. Cat lovers prize the Exotic for its resemblance to its longhaired cousin and the lack of daily grooming chores.

"[The Exotic] looks like a Persian with its flat face but the coat is shorter and easier to care for," says Clydene Albrigo, a breeder from Winter Haven, Fla., noting that the cat is the result of breeders seeking just that — a Persian with short hair. "The Exotic is a man-made cat bred from the Persian and shorthair varieties including British and American Shorthairs."

**Get the January 2012 issue of CAT FANCY to read the full article or click hereto purchase a PDF version.**