Exotic Shorthair Kitten Breed Physical Characteristics

Like the Persian, the Exotic Shorthair Kitten is a medium-sized breed with an uncharacteristically large head. In fact, their head may appear even larger since they don’t have the excessive fluff to fill out the rest of their body. The Exotic’s facial features are like their long-haired counterparts with a flat, snubbed nose and big, friendly eyes. The key word is round, round eyes, round head and rounded body.

Exotic Shorthair Size

The Exotic Shorthair kitten starts out so little and light weight but can potentially reach a weight of around 12 pounds and 15 inches tall. Even without the fur, the Exotic Shorthair’s body is round and heavily boned with a broad, deep chest, big shoulders, and a good-sized rump.

Exotic Shorthair Kitten Head

Their “round and massive” head is known around the world for their prominent eyes and flat nose. Their chunky head sits atop a short, thick neck.

Exotic Shorthair Kitten Eye Color

The Exotic Shorthair’s kitten’s eyes are described as “brilliant in color” by the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA). Just like the Persian cat, their eye color will often correlate with their coat pattern. White Exotic Shorthairs will have dark blue eyes, and other patterns will have a brilliant copper color.

Exotic Shorthair Kitten Legs & Paws

The Exotic Shorthair kitten has short legs that are thick and strong in appearance. Their paws are large and round to match, five toes carried close in the front and four on the back legs.

Exotic Shorthair Kitten Colors and Coats

Much like the Persian, the Exotic Shorthair can come in a large assortment of colors and coat patterns. Here’s a closer look at some of the divisions recognized by the Cat Fanciers’ Association.

• Solid Color Division: Exotics in the solid color division come in white, blue, black, red, cream, chocolate, and lilac. They all have specific required colors for their eyes, paw pads, and “nose leather.” For example, chocolate (brown) Exotic Shorthairs have a brown nose, cinnamon-pink paw pads, and copper eyes.
• Shaded and Smoke Color Division: Exotics in this division include shaded cameo, shell tortoiseshell, shaded black, shaded blue, red smoke, and chocolate tortoiseshell smoke. Each of the colors in this division has requirements for the eyes, paw pads, and nose leather.
• Tabby Color Division: There’s a vast amount of tabby patterns in the Exotic’s tabby division. Some include the lilac patch tabby, cameo tabby, mackerel tabby, etc. In a cat show, Exotics’ have their tabby patterns judged while they are standing.
• Calico Color Division: Exotics in this class have classic, tri-colored coats. The coats are 25-75% white and often have large patches of black and orange overlaying, but other colors may occur.
• Parti-Color Division: Parti-color includes tortoiseshell, blue-cream, chocolate tortoiseshell, and lilac-cream colors.
• Himalayan Color Division: For Persians, a Himalayan coat pattern is a sub-breed. These are cats with color points, meaning their body is one solid color, and their ears, legs, feet, tail, and mask are a contrasting color. Himalayan patterns include chocolate point, flame point, and tortie lynx point.