Thanks, I hope it helps! I don't know why Emily acts as she does. At
first we thought it was the "new-cat's-getting-all-the-attention"
jealousy syndrome, but that should have worn off by now. I think
Emily's a bit of a bully when she can away with it, and knows Sophie
is afraid of her even though she now outweighs Emily. Martha, our
serene Zen tortie, gets along with everyone furred or unfurred, but
when Emily tried to push her around she nailed her good, and Emily
never tried it again. It's a bore having to keep Emily and Sophie
separated, but for now at least I'm afraid it seems the only solution.

ROFL!!! That is one bizarre comment, but I love it.

(I do know about the Mormon undergarments, so it's not *that* bizarre,
but it sounds funny.)

Joyce

"No heaven will not ever Heaven be; Unless my cats are there to
welcome me." - Anonymous

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where
they went."
- Anonymous

"How you behave toward cats here below determines your status in
Heaven."
- Robert A. Heinlein

"Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and
your dog would go in."--Mark Twain

"If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I
have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons." - James
Thurber

"God allows cats in heaven just so he can keep an eye on them." Dixie
Carter

"I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat I am sure, could
walk on a cloud without coming through." - Jules Verne

"A cat can't enter Heaven or Hell unless it has used all of its nine
lives." -American folklore

If God created animal angels, they would probably be dogs. Cats would
consider it a demotion." - Linda Marrow

The Chinese philosopher Confucius owned a cat and always kept it by
his side. He apparently believed that the cat was sent from heaven to
serve as a conduct for divine wisdom.

I just finished watching a "Twilight Zone" episode called "The Hunt"
on Sci-Fi channel.
It is about an old Mountain man and his dog. They were out coon
hunting and the dog jumped int a pond, the old man followed and the
both drowned.
They go walking down this road and run into a guy at a gate who tries
to get the old man to enter. He won;t because they won't let dogs in.
A littlle while later this oter person come walking up looking for the
old man.
It turns out that the new person is an angel. He asks the old man if
he got tangled up with the first guy at the gate.
The old man says that he would not enter because they would not let
his dog in.
The angel says that that was hell.
So the old man and the dog go off to heaven.

if Rod Serling thinks that animals have souls, well, that is good
enough fo me.

I'm with you, Theresa!  My take on it is, the Bible talks about the lion
lying down with the lamb, etc.  If there are lions and lambs, there were
certainly be dogs, cats, and other such creatures.  As others have said,
if dogs and cats aren't allowed in heaven, I ain't going!  ;-)

Joy

When I was a young marine in 1979 or so, I was stationed in Yuma Arizona and
worked with an "old salt" that had been a dog handler in Vietnam.  He told
us about a dog he had (forget the name, long time ago).  One fine day in
Vietnam he and his dog were jumping from a helicopter into a battle zone and
the dog was killed before he touched the ground.  He carried his friend back
to their base camp and started digging a grave with one of those silly
little entrenching shovels; but in no time at all several combat engineers
had shown up with shovels and took over entirely.  By the time the grave was
ready over 300 combat marines and the base chaplin had showed up.  I wish I
could remember all that he told us the chaplin said but all I can remember
is the part "we have many seen the love, loyalty and bravery flowing from
those eyes, and if those eyes mirror a soul, may he rest in peace."  I have
always remembered that.

Mike
The early bird gets the worm;
but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese!!

I remember going to Missionary Church camp where I was told quite
firmly that "animals do not have souls; they are put on earth for our
use and when they die that is the end of them."

The idea of having animals for "our use" disgusted me and the
arguments that animals were of some kind of "lesser worth to God" than
humans did as well, because to those of us who KNOW animals, we know
that one is not the same as another.  They are individuals just like
humans.

They got snarky and asked me if I thought bugs and worms went to
Heaven.

I annoyed them by replying "Why not?  God obviously values them enough
to create them."

I hope I have not upset anyone here who happens to be Missionary.

Anyway, in the end I became Wiccan and am proud to be of a faith that
has equal respect for human AND animal life.

--Fil

Well said! I agree completely!

Joyce

I forgot to say but when I lived in Kingston, the Wiccan Ritual Circle
I belonged to did a ritual to bless pets each year.

--Fil