What Kind Of Cat Is Garfield? Cool Facts On Jim Davis's Tabby Cat

Garfield is one of the most famous comic strips in the world.

It first made its debut in 1978 and has continued to win hearts ever since. We have all wondered what type of cat Garfield is.

The cartoon character, Garfield, is an orange Tabby Persian cat. His name is short for James Garfield Davis. Some may also confuse him with a Maine Coon cat. Garfield is an orange Tabby Persian cat with British Shorthair. 

Garfield is indeed an exotic short-haired cat! Many breeders cross-breed the orange tabby with the British Shorthair cat breed, to produce Garfield cats.

Garfield is a laid-back, arrogant, and utterly sarcastic cat owned by an average man named John Arbuckle. Everyone has come to love this orange ball of fur who never fails to make us laugh. Here are some amazing facts about this orange feline.

After reading all about the Garfield cat breed, do check out some more fun facts with Siamese Cat facts and what kind of bear is Baloo?

What kind of cat breed is Garfield?

Want to know what kind of cat Garfield is? This American sweetheart with an orange coat was born in an Italian restaurant and is most definitely a kind of exotic shorthair cat called a Tabby Persian.

However, the question of what Garfield's cat breed is has been up for debate over many decades due to the lack of details such as the texture of his fur and coat. Having said that, he does appear to be an orange Persian Tabby.

The Persian Tabby cat shares kind of an uncanny resemblance with Garfield, having the same grumpy appearance, short legs, and personality as him. They also have the classic letter M on their forehead.

This Persian cat breed has short fur and makes a great pet that is caring and affectionate.

They tend to be great with kids and, just like their fictional counterparts, these cats are lazy and love to cuddle with their human owner. Members of this Persian cat breed are quite cowardly and are not big fans of loud neighborhoods.

Although these cats are easy to groom, they have short hair and thick fur coats which need to be cleaned and brushed regularly. If not correctly cared for, this type of cat can get a matted coat very easily.

There was one very famous feline, also named Garfield, that was a real cat and a supposed living counterpart of Garfield. It had a huge Facebook following, but unfortunately, it passed away in 2020.

Is Garfield a boy or a girl?

Although there doesn't seem to be anything controversial about a cartoon character like Garfield, after all he’s just a lazy overweight cat who loves food (especially lasagna) and hates Mondays and his co-pet (a dog called Odie), this is not entirely true.

Did you know that in 2017, drama involving Garfield began to happen outside of the comic strip? Twitter had to put Garfield’s page on lockdown due to a 60-hour-long editing war.

This was because people were constantly changing Garfield’s gender. This war was sparked by Jim Davis’s interview in which he stated that Garfield is not a real cat and therefore he can’t be classified as a female or a male cat.

Many people were not happy with this statement as Garfield has always been represented as a male cat since 1978.

Garfield had also used the pronouns he/him to describe his identity several times. Davis then corrected his statement in another interview and stated that this exotic shorthair cat is a male.

Who created the character of Garfield?

Creating Garfield was one of the best decisions in the comic book world. This fat, round fur ball, who initially walked on four legs and only communicated with audiences through a thought bubble, was created by cartoonist Jim Davis.

Jim Davis was born in 1945 and worked as an assistant to the cartoonist Tom Ryan. Davis wanted to create relatable characters and a personality that people could laugh at.

Let’s face it, one reason why everyone loves Garfield is that they want to be just like this exotic shorthair cat! A part of all of us wants to just lay around and eat endless food without worrying about life.

Jim Davis gave the orange cat its name to honor his grandfather James Abraham Garfield who was also named in honor of the American president of the same name. The character of Garfield is also somewhat inspired by his grandfather’s personality.

He was an over-sized, fun-loving, and easy-going person. Davis chose a cat as the protagonist as, at the time, the comic scene was dominated by dogs.

How many Garfield comics are there?

Garfield the cat first appeared in comics in 1978 and has not left the spotlight since.

There are more than 11,000 comic strips and 11 comic strip book series about Garfield the cat. Davis doesn’t draw comic strips anymore although no product is released before Davis’s approval.

The most controversial Garfield comic of all time is the 'No More Mondays' comic in which Garfield is supposed to have died at the age of 30 and wakes up in an alternative universe where his house is empty and he feels as if his owner and co-pet (a dog named Odie) have abandoned him.

Although he later wakes up, fans theorize that the rest of the comics are a mix of hallucinations and recollection of his life. Although the Garfield comics won everyone’s heart, the movies did not get the same amount of love.

There are about 13 Garfield specials and 5 Garfield movies namely 'Garfield: The Movie', 'Garfield: A Tail Of Two Kitties', 'Garfield Gets Real', 'Garfield’s Fun Fest' and 'Garfield’s Pet Force'.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for What Kind Of Cat Is Garfield?

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