Best Exotic Shorthair Food (2026): Complete Breed Guide

Two things weigh most in the Exotic's food, and both come from the genetic kinship with the Persian: the shape of the face and the kidney.

Flat face. The Exotic has the same brachycephalic conformation as the Persian — a short, flattened muzzle. According to a study published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (Anagrius et al., 2021), 86% of the Persian and Exotic Shorthair cats assessed together showed moderate to severe stenotic nares. Larger kibble, with a geometry designed for that face, makes it easier to pick up the food and reduces the cat's effort in eating.

Kidney. The Exotic is genetically a short-haired version of the Persian — the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) today permits only crossing with the Persian for the breed. Through that kinship, the Exotic inherits the same predisposition to polycystic kidney disease (PKD) documented in Persians by the Merck Veterinary Manual — a hereditary mutation that can make the kidneys enlarge through the formation of multiple cysts. Controlled phosphorus in the food works as preventive support for kidney function.

The Exotic is, genetically, a short-haired Persian. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) — Exotic Breed Article describes how, since 1990, the Exotic's official standard was realigned to be identical to the Persian's, except for the coat description, and how the association has formally recognized that "the Exotic was, in fact, a Persian". Today the only permitted outcross for the breed is with the Persian itself. That genetic proximity explains why the Exotic shares the same documented predispositions as the Persian.

The first is the brachycephalic conformation. A study published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (Anagrius et al., 2021) assessed 76 show cats — 64 Persians and 12 Exotics — and found moderate to severe stenotic nares in 86% of the group; the authors analyzed the two breeds together, without separating results by type. In practice, that calls for an adapted kibble shape, which makes it easier for a flat face like the Exotic's to pick up the food.

The second is the predisposition to polycystic kidney disease (PKD), an autosomal dominant inherited condition. The Merck Veterinary Manual — Congenital and Inherited Disorders of the Urinary System of Cats documents the condition in Persian cats and domestic longhair cats, with the kidneys potentially enlarging through the formation of multiple cysts. Since the Exotic is genetically a Persian — and the only outcross permitted by the CFA is precisely with Persians — the same hereditary predisposition extends to the breed. Controlling the phosphorus content of the diet works as preventive support for kidney function.

The block of recommended foods on this page is ordered by My Pet Magazine's IDNM/IPFI technical methodology, which evaluates the nutritional density and ingredient purity of each product in the active dataset for the Exotic's medium-size profile — with no manual curation or brand influence.

The score takes into account how well the food fits the breed profile: formulas compatible with preventive kidney support and a kibble shape adapted to the flat face are factors that weigh in the ranking, recalculated whenever the product dataset is updated.