ABSTRACT
The development of in vivo animal models that reproduce the natural history of human diseases and their clinical response to therapy constitute a major technique for rapid bench-to-bedside translation of investigational therapies that have shown promise in in vitro models. A shorter overall life span and more rapid disease progression are further factors contributing to the advantages of a companion animal model. While animals respond readily to their environment in the wild, a systematic investigation of birth season dependencies among pets and specifically canines remains lacking. The Orthopedic Foundation of Animals reported on 129,778 canines representing 253 distinct breeds. An additional model of heart failure in large and small animals is pressure overload of the left ventricle, induced by transverse aortic constriction in mice and aortic banding in rats and rabbits. Animal models play an essential role in study of heart disease, and species used in this line of research include mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, sheep, and swine, among others.
