Animal experiment course is an important practice teaching link in medical and life science. It is of great significance to the cultivation of students' experimental skills, scientific thinking and innovative ability. However, the traditional teaching method of animal experiment course has the problems of single content and low participation of students. In order to promote students' active learning and innovative thinking, this paper aims to discuss the teaching reform of animal experiment course. Firstly, the paper introduces the background and significance of the teaching reform of animal experiment course and emphasizes its importance to the cultivation of students' ability. Secondly, it puts forward the principles of teaching reform of animal experiment course, including student-centered, paying attention to problem solving and practice exploration, and promoting interdisciplinary integration. Then, from the aspects of course design, teaching methods and evaluation methods, this paper expounds the concrete measures of teaching reform of animal experiment course in detail. In the course design, attention should be paid to the selection of challenging and exploratory experimental projects, and students' interests and professional needs should be fully considered. On teaching methods, students should be encouraged to actively participate in, exploration and cooperation, and guide them to problem solving and the cultivation of innovative thinking. In terms of evaluation methods, diversified evaluation methods, such as experimental report, group discussion and project presentation, should be used to comprehensively evaluate students' comprehensive ability and innovative thinking. Finally, through practical verification and effect evaluation, the experience and results of the teaching reform of animal experiment course were summarized, and suggestions for further improvement were put forward.