Cats behavior is so different for each cat, ranging from being your best bud to the haughty queen, that it just adds to the reasons that cat lovers enjoy their companions, besides the more obious physical differences.

People often call us the crazy cat people as we had up to thirteen different indoor cats living with us at one time. One of our first cats was a beautiful, tri-colored cat called Pansy. She was shy and was considered to be a "bookworm", as she loved to sit on top of the encyclopedias. Even then she made life interesting as she usually singled out the Encyclopedia Britannica as her perch.

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.

Generally speaking cats behavior, like humans, can be varied. If you are aware of which behavior is "normal" for your cat, it will be easier for you to pick up on behavioral variations that indicate something is wrong.

An individual cats behavior varies from cat to cat. You could get anything from loving to distant, oddball to boring, and numerous other behaviors as well. However, a sudden shift in routine may cause unusual cat behavior such as missing the mark when it comes to their little box or deciding they do not care for the brand of litter you are using. The more cat lovers know about what's baseline "normal" for your cat the easier it will be for you to pick up on behavioral variations that are trying to tell you something.