In spite of much progress on its mechanism, diagnosis and treatment, diabetes mellitus remains a public health challenge. The harm of diabetes is not significantly reduced, instead shows an increasing tendency year by year. To achieve an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanism, and to develop efficacious, stable and hypoglycemia-risk free drugs, it is crucial to gain more knowledge about diabetes from animal models. In this review, the types of diabetes animal models, modeling methods, the advantages and disadvantages, their applicable scope are discussed aiming to provide a reference for researchers to choose appropriate animal models.