The catalytic cracking of n-octane over FER, MFI, MOR and BEA zeolites was studied by the protolytic cracking mechanism in order to understand the effect of pore structure of zeolites on their product composition and deactivation. The selectivities for C3 and C3= were high over the zeolites with medium pores due to additional cracking, while those for C4 and C4=, the initial products, were high over the zeolites with large pores. MFI zeolite showed slow deactivation due to small carbon deposit, while FER zeolite with small pores deactivated rapidly with severe carbon deposit. The deactivation of BEA zeolite was slow even with a large amount of carbon deposit, but MOR zeolite showed a rapid deactivation even with a small amount of carbon deposit. The conversion measured along with the time on stream on these zeolite catalysts was simulated by a mechanism based on the simplified reaction path of n-octane cracking and the deactivation related to the pore blockage by carbon deposit.