The animal time structure is a basic fact of life, no matter if one wants to study it or not. The time-dependent, mostly rhythmic, and thus to a certain degree predictable, variations of biochemical and physiological functions and of sensitivity and resistance to many environmental agents are often quite large and offer not only new insight into animal physiology and pathology but also diagnostic possibilities and therapeutic advantages. Chronobiology, chronophysiology and its subspecialities, like chronopharmacology and chronotherapy, will certainly play an important role in the clinical medicine of the future. Successful application of chronobiology to veterinary clinical medicine, however, depends critically on a thorough knowledge of its basic principles.