Garfield was originally published in 1978 and follows Garfield, Jon Arbuckle, and his dog.
Yes, that's a very popular comic strip.  What type of cat was Garfield?
Garfield is a lazy, fat, and orange cat.
No, I meant his breed.  I always thought of him as an American Exotic.
I don't know his exact breed but him being an American Exotic would make sense.American Exotics were bred to be a short-haired version of the Persian.
Exactly.  I've known a few in my time and they all seemed to have the Garfield-type personality: aloof, arrogant, lazy and cynical.
Garfield's laziness is one of the most common themes in the strips. It's interesting to think they based his behavior on the actual breed of cat. 
Maybe Jon Arbuckle was very familiar with the American exotic.  It's true that they are unique visually and in terms of personality.
Jon Arbuckle was actually the fictional character. Jim Davis was the one who wrote the comics.