| Advantages of large animal models |
| Most physiologically and/or clinically relevant |
| Allows for chronic studies to be undertaken |
| Allows for cardiac function and responses to be assessed in the intact animal |
| Responsive to all the techniques and measurements made in man |
| Resembles more closely the human heart (young human heart is pig-like, older heart is dog-like) |
| Disadvantages of large animal models |
| Higher maintenance costs |
| Harder to handle and house-specialized infrastructure and trained personnel needed |
| Longer gestation time and lifespan |
| Dog and pig: ischemia-reperfusion induced arrhythmias are more frequent |
| Less suitable than small animals for genetic selection and production of transgenic strains and less spontaneous disease models |
