Objective To evaluate the feasibility of establishing a hypertensive rat model induced by deoxycorticosterone acetate ( DOCA), and to compare the stability of the model between surgery ( unilateral nephrectomy combined with DOCA injection) and non-surgery group (DOCA injection alone). Methods Healthy Wistar rats were divided randomly into surgery group and non-surgery group according to body weight. Rats in surgery group underwent left nephrectomy followed by subcutaneous injection of DOCA (50 mg / kg), five times a week for 5 weeks. Rats in the non-surgery group received DOCA injections following the same protocol for 7 weeks, without nephrectomy. Both groups were given free access to 1% saline solution throughout the experiment. Tail artery blood pressure was monitored weekly until week 9. Blood pressure changes and model stability were compared between the groups. Results Following drug administration, the blood pressure of rats in the surgery group gradually increased. After drug withdrawal, the blood pressure remained persistently elevated with slight fluctuations, resulting in sustained hypertension. During the same period of drug administration and withdrawal, the blood pressure of rats in the nonsurgery group exhibited a consistent change pattern with that in the surgery group, i. e. , a gradual increase after drug administration and sustained maintenance of hypertension after drug withdrawal. Conclusions Subcutaneous DOCA administration can effectively induce hypertension in rats without the need for nephrectomy. Compared with the conventional surgical model, the non-surgical method is simpler, safer, and reproducible, and has broad applicability for hypertension research.