bill the cat is commonly seen as a parody of jim davis' garfield (milo bloom appears to fear a visit from united feature syndicate's copyright lawyers over bill's similarities to garfield). in the december 22, 2015 facebook version of the comic, it was revealed that bill the cat is actually garfield's son. breathed has also described bill as his attempt to create a character so repulsive that it would have absolutely no merchandising potential. but surprisingly, bill the cat trinkets and figurines have sold in great quantity, and often appear in the strips. bill the cat was also inspired by a colorful economist named bill moore. a graduate assistant at the university of texas at austin during the 1970s, moore was one of breathed's teachers. recognizably wild-eyed (and one legged), moore also became one of breathed's friends. his name was further inspired by a local homeless man of iowa city, iowa, who was dubbed bill "the cat".