Objective To understand the current status of animal experimental research on comorbidities of depression, and to provide method for preparing and evaluating relevant animal models of comorbidities of depression. Methods We searched the CNKI and PubMed databases to identify research literature on comorbidities of depression in animals. We summarized and analyzed the data regarding animal species, comorbidity types, modeling method, and model evaluation indicators. Results This study included 100 Chinese and 143 English studies. The total number of papers published in China and elsewhere has shown an upward trend since 2011. The top three comorbidity models in terms of the number of papers published were depression pain (97, 39.91%), depression epilepsy (37, 15.23%), and depression diabetes (20, 8.23%). The depression neuropathic pain model was the most common comorbid type of depression and pain, and the most commonly used preparation method was selective injury of the sciatic nerve branch, often using C57BL/6J mice. The depression acute epilepsy model was the most common comorbid type of depression epilepsy, and was usually prepared using the lithium chloride pilocarpine model, often using SD rats. The most commonly used method for preparing the depression diabetes model was by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin, using C57BL/6J mice. We systematically summarized the evaluation method for the above comorbidity models. Conclusions Increasing research is being carried out using animal models of comorbidities of depression. While a few animal models for the preparation and evaluation of comorbidities of depression are gradually progressing, most animal experimental studies on comorbidities of depression are still in their infancy, and further studies are required to explore these.