You know I'm usually pretty quiet on these things. I don't really see
the point in trying to explain something to someone who just won't
listen. I have to say though that some people should not be allowed to
own pets. First off, declawing is a bad thing. period. Not only does
it detract from the quality of life it also causes high levels of
stress induced anxiety, especially in a cat who has had his claws for
the first seven years of his life. I hate to tell you this Ken but
Phil is right. When you declaw a cat you are amputating to the first
"knuckle" of the digit. Basically imagine it as if you had all of your
fingers cut back to your first knuckle so you wouldn't have to cut
your fingernails anymore. As for scratching it's more than just a cat
sharpening it's claws. A cat has scent glands in their paws also and
when they are declawed those scent glands can become infected and turn
septic. Which leads to medical problems for the rest of it's life.
Cats also don't just purr when they are happy. They also purr when
they are in highly stressful situations and also purr sometimes to
indicate they are hurting. There is no reason beyond a medical
necessity that a cat should ever be declawed. The problem that most
people have in regards to pets is they can never seem to understand
that a pet is more than just a possession that they can conveniently
dispose of whenever it becomes more than they can handle.

And for the record Ken, lets get just a few more things straight.
This statment that you made;

"Bunch is smiling down from heaven on us now.  He is happy he had 14
years of life down here with my Mom, me and Kathy.  Bunch is thankful
that my mother rescued him from the middle of the road as a kitten.
Bunch now waits for us patiently in heaven until Kathy and I fulfill
our mortal lives.  And, despite your greatest wishes, it doesn't look
like Kathy and I am going to join him anytime soon.  But there is
hardly a day that passes that we don't think of "da Bunch".

This is patently false also. If you actually believe in the Bible and
read it like you should, you would know that, when your soul reaches
Heaven you are not going to be at some great family reunion. Your soul
will be doing one thing only and that is looking to God. You won't be
standing there next to your wife because you won't be married in
Heaven. You won't have parents there. You won't have children there.
The only relationship that you will have there is the one that you
will have with God.

Basically what I'm saying here is that it would be a good idea for you
to actually be educated in what you are talking about before you go
and try and "straighten everyone out" I think it was.

Pete