Dogs with diabetes can live a happy life without any symptoms of their disease, but it does require effort on your part.

If you are able to give your dog insulin, diabetes may not affect life expectancy.

“If they live past the first three months, they do really well. Excluding dogs that don’t make it through those first few months, the median survival is two years,” Dr. Behrend says. “In fact, a lot won’t even die of diabetes.”

Many of the dogs who pass away from diabetes do so before it can be regulated. These dogs also tend to have other diseases that complicate treatment or cause them to be very sick.

Learn more at Diabetes in Dogs: Symptoms, Treatment, Cost and Life Expectancy