Objective To investigate the trend in changes of body weight, ingestion, blood lipids, and pathology of liver tissue in two models of hyperlipidemia in rats, and to compare differences of the hyperlipidemia models of different genders. Methods Rats were fed two kinds of high fat diet for 7~8 weeks to establish models of mixed hyperlipidemia and hypercholesterolemia. The body weight, ingestion, and general state of the animals were recorded during the modeling period. Changes in serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were detected and analyzed at 0, 1~2 and 7~8 weeks. Results The body weight of the mixed hyperlipidemia high-fat diet group was significantly higher than control group, ingestion was decreased significantly, and total food use was increased, while ingestion of hypercholesterolemia high-fat diet group was increased and there was no significant difference in body weight or total food use. At the end of modeling, TC and TG levels in the mixed hyperlipidemia groups was increased, the TC level in the hypercholesterolemia group was increased, TG was unchanged, and the degree of hepatic steatosis in the mixed hyperlipidemia group was stronger. In the same model, the overall change in blood lipids and the degree of liver steatosis in male rats were more severe than those in female rats. Conclusions There were differences in body weight, ingestion, lipid levels and liver pathology in high fat diet groups of the two models with a stronger degree in male than in female rats of the same model.