Getting Started - Behavior Medicine

The reason to use veterinary prescribed behavior medication is to intentionally affect the animal's brain chemistry during behavior modification.

In most cases, the primary goal is to SPEED UP the cats learning by reducing anxiety. Just like people, anxiety can prevent or distract the cat from learning new behaviors. Once a new habit pattern is in place (as a result of behavior modification training), medication is tapered and hopefully phased out.

There are cases, where the cat is mentally ill and will need to continue medication for life due to a genetic or metabolic condition. As with all mental health issues, the challenge is to weigh the cat's quality of life with the potential side effects of these medications.