Objective To improve the method to establish a rat model of vascular dementia and to better serve the experimental studies on vascular dementia.Methods We used the method of "repeatedly clipping the carotid artery combined with injection of sodium nitroprusside and with permanent unilateral carotid artery ligation" to prepare a rat model of vascular dementia. The drug piracetam was used to validate the established rat model in respect of the behavior and histopathology. Results Different from the reports of previous research, firstly, the results of this study suggested that injection dose of sodium nitroprusside should be 2.0 mg/kg, room temperature should be controlled at 28℃ during surgical operation, and kept at 25℃ postoperatively for 24 hours. Under these experimental conditions, the rats were stable and the death rate was reduced. Secondly, "repeatedly clipping carotid artery combined with permanent unilateral carotid artery ligation" could cut off about a third of cerebral blood supply, and causing chronic cerebral ischemia, which is seemingly more consistent with the pathogenesis of vascular dementia. Experimental results showed that compared with the control group, the navigation incubation period was extended and space search ability became worse in the model group, cell number was decreased, with blurred cell contour and deeply stained cytoplasm, and cell nuclei were not clear in the hippocampal tissue. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the improved method "repeatedly clipping the carotid artery combined with injection of sodium nitroprusside and with permanent unilateral carotid artery ligation" can be used to efficiently establish a rat model of vascular dementia. The similar results of experiment using piracetam validate that this rat model can be used in vascular dementia-related experimental studies.