Is knee osteoarthritis (KOA) a degenerative, multiple, and incurable disease? The KOA animal disease model is an effective carrier for studying the etiology, treatment and mechanism of KOA. There are many ways to derive the KOA animal model. There are many types, each with its characteristics and applicability. This article reviews and compares the literature on the selection and preparation of KOA animal models, and combines the author's research practice on KOA animal models to experimental KOA animals, and elaborates the model selection and preparation.