Dinah Rain, April 1, 1998-October 17, 2007

Thank you so much, those of you who have written words of encouragement to us.

We took Miss Dinah to the vet today and received discouraging news. It seems that she was still yellow and that her weight was even lower than when we took her in last week. The only option was to insert a feeding tube (surgically) and force feed her that way for the next 3-4 weeks. We had decided from the beginning that we would not go that far. Not for Dinah's sake, and not for our sake. It would just be too much for everyone involved.

And so we made the heart wrenching decision to let Dinah go. She seemed happy today as we drove to the vet. She was "talking" again as we talked to her, and seemed curious on the exam table. Although this may seem like a sign that she was doing better, she really wasn't. It was a sign to me that it was a good time to let her go peacefully, while she was feeling good and happy.

Now it's Dinah's turn to go down the Rabbit Hole and have her own adventures. Thank you for 9 years, Dinah. You were a good friend.

Creation

I made this video for my Confirmation class...

Dinah Rain Boyer

Dinah Rain came to live with us in June of 1998. She was 2 months old when I brought her home from a garage sale.

Dinah got her name from Alice in Wonderland. Alice's cat's name is Dinah, and I've always thought it was so nice that the story made mention of a sweet companion waiting patiently for Alice while she was off having adventures. Dinah looks like my friend's cat "Rainy," thus her middle name, Rain.

Dinah has always been in tune to my physical needs. For example, whenever I had a headache, which was often back when she was a kitten, she would lay across my neck like a heating pad. Anytime I've been in pain over the years, Dinah has been there to make sure I was okay.

So it's only fitting that this past week I've been there for her. Sweet Dinah has become very ill. She's always been a bit overweight, and it's caught up to her. She has recently stopped eating, which has caused her body to deposit fat cells in her liver. Naturally, it can't function well this way, so she was jaundiced, starving, and in very bad shape. The course of treatment is simple. She MUST eat. However, she has no appetite. We must force her. Often.

At first it seemed like a lost cause, and we were heart broken. But then on Saturday, she seemed to really pick up. It's been almost a week and there have been some improvements. Her weight is up and she seems to have more energy. Her color is much better. But yesterday she seemed to withdraw. She's been finding corners to hide in and today she's been behind the couch, so I've barely fed her at all. Is she just really mad at me? or is she done fighting? We see the doctor again tomorrow, we'll see what she has to say.

Some may say that what we're doing to save her is silly, after all she's only a cat. There are others who will be disappointed to know that we have set a limit on how far we will go with her treatment. Dinah has been an incredible companion to us over the past 9 years, I feel we owe it to her to pay her back some of the kindness and loyalty she's shown us.

I will admit that Alec and I have never dealt with the loss of anyone close to us before. Even pets that I had as a child were still living when I left home. I was able to consider them "my mom's cats" or "my dad's cats" at the times of their deaths and block out any need to grieve. I guess there were a few cats that died while I was at home, but not the ones I was super close to, like Alexander the King, or Chelsea the Neurotic. Morris and Sylvia I managed to detach myself from before I was required to grieve for them. So not only will this sting, but I may also be forced to make the decision to bring about the end for Miss Dinah. When do you know? How do you know? My heart aches.