Cats Behavior - Get To Know What They Mean

One of the reasons that there are so many cat lovers is that, in addition to extensive variation in size, color, and appearance, cats behavior is so varied -from aloof to loving, boring to downright eccentric, and all gradations in between.

Every cat has his or her own character and peculiarities. Growing up with thirteen of them at once can therefore be quite entertaining and amusing. Pansy was one of our first cats and she was on the quieter side. She enjoyed spending time resting on our dictionaries and reference books.

We had one cat, Eric, a short-haired marmalade, who made up for any lapse in bathroom etiquette by having the best bed side manner if you happened to be under the weather or troubled. Another of our cats, Tinker, the most clever, was able to open the trash container with little effort, and loved to pluck out a tune on my guitar should it be left lying about.

It is important for you to know what is normal about your cats behavior. If they go running crazily around the house every night at the same exact time, then that is probably one of their oddities. However, if your cat is normal restful and follows this same pattern then there may be something to be concerned about, anything from being sick to being resentful of a visit from your Aunt Tillie.

Stability and safety are important to cats - a sudden change in circumstances might cause typical unexpected cat behavior such as missing the litter box. Or, as was the case with one of mine, deciding out of nowhere that she no longer liked the litter we were using. Her only effective way to communicate this was by no longer using her box. Eventually we figured out what she was trying to get at and, after some trial and error, found out that what she wanted was torn-up newspaper. Everything has been fine since.

Basically, you have to be aware that cats behavior can be just as diverse as human behavior. It is best to be strongly aware of what is considered standard behavior for your cat, so that if there is a sudden change in behavior you can know what your cat is trying to tell you.