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Abstract Intraluminal monofilament model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) is widely adopted for ischemic stroke; and Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats are commonly used rodents for preclinical research. Due to the paucity of information on the appropriate monofilament size for inducing MCAO in SD rats and the importance of including middle-aged models in ischemic stroke studies, we aimed to: (i). determine an appropriate Doccol® monofilament size for middle-aged male SD rats which weighed > 500 g following 24-h transient MCAO survival as well as (ii). demonstrate the optimal Doccol® filament size for middle-aged males (≤ 500 g) and females (273–300 g) while using young adult male SD rats (372–472 g) as control for severity of infarct volume following 7-days post-MCAO. All rats were subjected to 90-min transient MCAO. We show that 0.43 mm Doccol® monofilament size is more appropriate to induce large infarct lesion and optimal functional deficit when compared to 0.45 mm and 0.47 mm at 24 h post-MCAO. Our data on infarct volumes at 7 days post-MCAO as well as the observed weight loss and functional deficits at post-MCAO days 1, 3 and 7 demonstrate that 0.41 mm, 0.37 mm and 0.39 mm are optimal Doccol® filament sizes for middle-aged male (477.3 ± 39.61 g) and female (302.6 ± 26.28 g) as well as young-adult male (362.2 ± 28.38 g) SD rats, respectively.