We have a 3 yr old, seemingly healthy, Bengal Tiger cat who walks in circles occasionally. For no apparent reason he looks over his shoulder and walks in a circle. I have picked him up when he starts and he remains calm. When I put him down he starts to circle again. It lasts 30 seconds or so and then he is fine. He has been eating the same food, indoor formula cat chow, since he was old enough for adult food. Occasionally he gets a little soft food as a treat. He throws up once a month or so but our indoor cats do that sometimes. He started turning in circles a couple of months ago or so. He may do it while we are gone but we have only seen it four times or so. It seems like he always turns the same direction but we are unsure about that. He has been given a clean bill of health from the vet. He is an active cat, not overweight or any other problems.
Should we be concerned? Any advice?
Thank you in advance for any responses.

My sister, who is also a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine has a cat that does the same thing... she said it's like a nervous twitch that some cats have/do... more common in pure breed cats if I remember right... at first it was the weirdest thing, the cat would just walk in circles... sometimes for as long as a half hour, sometimes around a table leg or any standing object and once in awhile with a loud meowing... if you interrupted the cat it would just pick up somewhere else... as long as the DVM says he's health and no inner ear problems or anything like that I really wouldn't worry about it

Thank you. You have eased my mind. I think we will let things go unless he appears to be uncomfortable. He hates going to the vet so we will not continue to put him through that unless he really needs it.

I know this is far past the date of the original question, I just wanted to follow up with my own experience with my "circling" cat Sarah. The turning in clockwise circles begain and started to get worse with her always thinking something was sneaking up on her. When laying down her head was wrenched looking over her shoulder.

Our vet said at her advanced age (~12) a presentation like this was usually an inner ear infection or a brain lesion which is exactly what I read here and in other places. Her ears looked fine so instead of expensive tests he gave her a steroid shot and put her on prednisone (steroid). He said it might help or it might do nothing but steroids have sometimes worked miracles. This was on a Monday and he said if it was going to work we would see results by the weekend.

Luckily we did see results and she returned to being almost the same cat she used to be. Then we went away for a few days at the holidays. She may have missed a full dose since I mixed one dose in her food for the neighbor to give her one day while we were gone (since I wouldn't wish giving Sarah a pill on anyone). I think that and the stress of us being gone made her relapse a bit. But we got a new prescription and while she is not as good as she was the first course, she is for the most part a relaxed happy cat. She is a little more needy and underfoot, a bit more nervous than in the past, and shows a "preference" for heading in one direction sometimes. One good thing I guess is that she no longer cares much about going outside. We inherited her and her daughter Haley from my mother and they were always indoor/outdoor cats which isn't something that we tried to break. When she goes out now it is only for a minute or so and I keep an eye on her.

So it's only been about a month and the steroids might end up being diminishing returns for her as time goes by, but for now she has returned to having a decent quality of life, for which we are grateful.

Hope this info is a help for anyone with a cat experiencing this problem.

Circling is also sometimes seen in prion diseases, such as mad cow and scrapie, which are known to affect cats. I of course have no idea if this is the case. It's not treatable but not catching.

These are diseases of the brain that most obviously affect motor function--how animals move. They are sometimes also called movement disorders.

I keep reading about everyone asking why their cats are circling and possibly losing weight and their appetite sometimes... everyone seems to not have the answer but when I took my 14 year old cat to the vet for these same reasons, both vets simply said she had had a stroke. She circles to the left and her left side is much weaker so sometimes she falls down and she seems to sort of be in her own little world most of the time. Also, if you move your finger toward her face right in front of her eyes, she won't really blink on the left side. Anyway, they gave her a steroid shot as well as pills for a month. Her appetite came back and the circling went away but now, a month later, she circles again. Her left side is still weakened from the damage done from the stroke but other than that she's normal. Time is of the essence when responding to a stroke.

My cat has been circling and meowing loudly for several month, now she is unsteady and falls, these are ominous neurological signs, she has a brain mass that is also spread to her belly.

catlover7683-There are some great answers here for you, what a great resource! Since I am a trained Wildlife vet asst. I will take the obvious approach from what I know. It could be neurologic, such manifestations could also be due to ear mites, and retention of fluid in the middle ear! It's not uncommon to see this behaviour in captive wild animals at zoo parks or in captivity. The Feline family seems to be particularly affected.

Lots of interesting answers:

Ear mites
Other inner ear problem
Genetic defect
Brain tumor
Stroke
Prion disease

Did I miss anything?

Thanks for all these great answers. I'll be taking my 16 yr old cat to the vet soon... as he's exhibiting many of these same symptoms. He's also becoming more prone to accidents (pooping outside the box)... which I had attributed to not being able to make a big enough circle in the litter box.

Here is a fact sheet on Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy (FSE), the cat form of mad cow disease. Both are caused by prions, which are proteins (not a virus or bacterium). One of the symptoms of FSE is circling. FSE is not common and other diseases are more likely.