By Pam Hill

I considered writing an article about silver exotics for some time. I wondered, however, would anyone be interested? It isn't like there are a lot of people working with this color in exotics, which has always amazed me. I think that the exotic coat length lends itself perfectly to the shaded patterns. The silver persian coat is tipped, but not nearly as visibly as in the exotic coat, which resembles a chinchilla pelt. With the white hair shaft standing, the tips present an entirely different appearance. Also, the mascara, black lips and paw pads stand out even more on the exotics. The Silvers started this breed, with the first silver exotic, "Silver Secret of Gay-O", granding back in 1971. After 1977, which saw 2 silver exotic grands, a dry spell occurred. Then the Deutschmanns in Germany, 'Pahlewi" cattery, granded Int. GRC Pahlewi's Exoti Mighty in 1983-84. Several U.S. Silver exotics granded in the years since, but the are definitely a minoritv color. Many judges confess to never seeing one. Only once in my IO years of showing has there been a silver exotic in the ring to compete with an Echo Hill cat, that was not my breeding.

Back in the mid 80's I saw my first zots. They were solid colors, and while they were lovely cats, I didn't prefer them to the longhairs. But, after grooming those longggg silver coats since 1973, the thought of lower maintenance appealed to me. I tried to visualize a shaded exotic coat, and considered breeding one of my silver persians to an American shorthair silver. Then CFA eliminated the Americans as outcrosses in spring of 1987. A friend from my silver club, D.J. Single, knew Elke & Norbert Deutschmann, (Pahlewi) in Germanv. She told them about my interest in silver exotics, and they sent me a photo of Pahlewi's Exoti Reza. He was my vision, and in a few months, moved to California to meet my silver persians, He is a light, evenly tipped shaded silver, with fabulous green eyes. My goal was to increase type and add bulk to the body, shorten the legs, while keeping the sweet, open silver expression. Well, after 2 years of breeding Reza to my silver persians, my goal was to produce shorthairs, please. I had litter after litter of longhairs, so Reza was obviously not homozygous for short hair. I wondered why, if short hair was dominant, I produced so few shorthair kittens. I finally got 1 female, and bred her back to her father. This resulted in 3 more longhair kittens. The 25% odds of getting shorthairs are just a roll of the dice, which is why I don't shoot craps at the casinos. When Echo Hill Hotlips came along, I was thrilled. She was adorable, and was a crowd magnet at the shows. Several of my friends decided they didn't want to bench with me anymore, because of the constant questions from exhibitors, "What kind of cat IS THAT?" I came home with laryngitis after each 2 day show. Lips was a Champion, had one litter, when she contracted Pyothorax, and died in my arms as my vet struggled to revive her. It was such a setback, emotionally and to my breeding program. My odds improved after that, when a little female arrived in one of my litters-, who had a shorter, somewhat flatter coat. She turned out to be homozygous for shorthair. She made quite a difference in the number of shorthair kittens running around in house, in 11 years of breeding exotics, I have produced just 1 proven homozygous exotic silver, Champion Echo Hill Dynasty, who was spayed in Jan. 1999, and is now a retired pet. Her grandson, Echo Hill Kiwi Winter, has the same textured coat. He hasn't proven himself, as currently he has an aversion to longhaired females. I find with my limited experience with the homozygous coats, that the appearance is not what I would prefer to show, It lacks the depth. That may be a trait common to silver, as many breeders of solids find their homozygous coat lengths acceptable. That may also be a personal preference of mine. The deep, plush coats are such a joy to "run barefoot" through, I couldn't consider compromising for the shorter coat. But, they are not the easy care coat that many prospective pet owners are led to believe. When I discuss the silver exotic coat, I point out that the exotic has the same amount of hair as a persian, perhaps more, it is just shorter. They still require grooming, but they don't mat. Bathing and drying time is less than half. However, if you are picking a hair off your black jacket, does it matter if the hair is 2 inches or 4 inches long? The silvers tend to look "sparkling". The coats don't look drab or need shampoo enhancements to bring out the pizzazz. I have registered almost all of my exotics as shaded silvers, rather than chinchilla silvers. The description of the silver exotic matches that of the silver persian. The chinchilla presents the appearance of an almost white cat, while the shaded has a visible mantle of tipping on the back and legs and a trace of tipping on the head. The shorter hair shaft of the exotic makes the tipping more prominent, so most of the cats match the shaded silver written description, even though they may be genetically chinchilla.

Silver Persian breeders have tended to be a very conservative group. The silver look is cherished and compromising that look is offensive to many silver lovers. There have been more outcrosses to solids recently, and many have produced some wonderful looks. I don't advocate color breeding over outcrossing. Using Himalayans and blue eyed whites has enhanced some breeding programs. Each breeder should make their choices. As a silver extic breeder, those choices are vitally important. To maintain coat clarity and even tipping, and keep those rich green or blue-green eyes, one must always return to the silver gene pool. To add type and substance, and produce healthy outcrosses, the solid longhairs and shorthairs are valuable. There are more silver persian lines that are compatible with the silver exotics, than solid persian lines. If those choices are more limited in the future, fewer breeders will attempt exotics, much less silver exotics. I have approached several silver persian breeders, offering to help them start in exotics. The reply is usually, "Not until the Longhair exotic issue is resolved".

Looking at the fabulous quality of exotics in the show ring, those magnificent tabbies, solids, parti and bicolors, can be very intimidating. There has been more uniformity, extreme type and awesome bodies. The exotics no longer resemble a trimmed persian. The coat depth and quality draws the hand to it, to caress and savor the plushness. This is our unique quality. To win with a minority color is a thrill. GRC LimeRidge Lancer of Echo Hill, (Ch.Pahlewi's Exoti Reca of Echo Hill X Ch.LimeRidge Cherish) was and is, "my main man". He sired Ch.,GR.Pr. Echo Hill Roxanne. and GRC Echo Hill Oracle and a number of CFA champions. I think that our challenges can be found in areas other than increasing type. At some point, the head type on exotics and persians can be too extreme. Do we breed for a short, upturned nose, or NO nose? Are those cute kittens turning into little gorillas? Can breeders refine other qualities to enhance their cats? We want a challenge in our breeding programs, if not, we get out and find a new hobby.

I am hoping to produce chocolate silver exotics, and shaded chocolates. Chocolate silvers would have dark brown mascara marking, a brick nose leather and green eyes, and Chocolate tipping on a white hair shaft. Never having seen one, I have to create my vision. I don't expect to fill the cattery with chocolate silvers, but to have chocolate in the gene pool, as a recessive. I have to produce one, to see if I like it, and go from there. Shaded chocolate could be shown in CFA, so that is another goal of the breeding program. My preference leans towards coats that are predominantly white. I have a solid chocolate exotic female, and a chocolate smoke tabby longhair (exotic) at this stage, and am getting a real taste for chocolate! At some time in the future, we may see our exotics benched according to color class in the judging ring, equaling persians in number and variety.