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
Jonathan Q. "Jon" Arbuckle is a fictional character from the "Garfield" comic strip by Jim Davis. He has also appeared in the animated television series "Garfield and Friends", the computer-animated "The Garfield Show", and two live-action/computer-animated feature films.
A geeky and clumsy man yet caring owner, Jon is the owner of Garfield and Odie. He converses with Garfield and is often the butt of his jokes.
Fictional biography.
Jon's
Garfield
Garfield is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as "Jon" in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as "Garfield", it chronicles the life of the title character, Garfield the cat; Jon Arbuckle, his human owner; and Odie, the dog. As of 2013, it was syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals, and held the Guinness World Record for being the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.
Though this is rarely mentioned in print,