Changing Dire pets name leaving the "Dire"

Ok..I have several Dire pets, Dire Lion, Dire White Tiger etc.
Do you know if it is possible to leave the word "Dire" in front of a name change, say like "Dire Kitty" insted of Dire Lion...can the word 'Dire' be left in place if the name in front is changed ?
Thanks.

i think the only way you can do that is by using dire in his name. like renaming him "Dire Bob" or such.

Yeah, it's the only way, since using /petname by itself resets the name back to dire tiger or whatever, but if you want an actual name, you have to supply it, and it replaces the whole thing.