At 9yrs of age our dog was was diagnosed with a potential of Cushing due to her symptoms ex: extreme thurst, increased appetite, her fur took months to grow back where she had been shaved & a deep rooted uti that took 5 months of treatments to get rid of & a possible abdominal mass. Our vet said for her to be truly diagnosed she would need blood work & a sonogram & for that she would have to be sedated. Our vet then said at that point with her level of stress the results may be either a false positive or a false negative. She suggested to simply monitor her & if we were lucky we could get her to the age of 12. Well she made 12 & then some. We had our beloved till 13 when sadly she lost her battle to it. Only when we brought our new family member for a vet visit did it seems she did has Cushing & passed from multiple symptoms. Good luck in your journey down this road.