Objective To develop catheter-related venous thrombosis in Sprague-Dawley rats, to observe pathological morphology and evolution process of the thrombus, thus to provide reference for clinical research and practice. Methods Eighty healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a sham operation group (n=40) and a model group (n=40). The external jugular vein was exposed and sutured immediately in the sham operation group, while silicone venous catheter was inserted in the external jugular vein after exposure and dissection in the model group. Specimens were taken from the external jugular vein to the superior vena cava of 8 rats in each group at 1 d, 4 d, 7 d, 10 d and 14 d after operation to identify whether or not they developed venous thrombosis and to observe pathological morphology. Results The sham operation group had no thrombus at all time points, whereas 85.0% of rats in the model group developed venous thrombosis. Hematoxylin and eosin stains showed presence of thrombus on day 1 after the operation in the model group, increased thrombus volume without organized appearance on day 4, organized thrombus on day 7, obviously organized thrombus on day 10, and completely organized thrombus resulting in vascular recanalization on day 14. Conclusion It is feasible and practical to develop catheter-related venous thrombosis by using Sprague-Dawley rats through catheterization in the external jugular vein. Theoretically，it is an ideal modeling method for development of catheter-related thrombosis.