They use the laser to make the incision, because it "seals blood vessels and nerve endings as it cuts" as Pixie mentioned.
Surgery was Wednesday, and she came home Thursday. She walked fine, but had a lot of swelling in her belly from the spay. After being a couch potato on Friday and Saturday, the swelling went down and by Sunday afternoon she was back to being a full-speed kitten. (Although she's supposed to "not get excited!" Tell me how to accomplish that with a 6 month old kitten!)
Today, there is very little swelling in her belly, and she hasn't indicated any pain from her declaw.
So, if you go with the laser spay, expect your kitty to be throttled back for about 4 days after surgery, and if you get the declaw, I'd say when the anesthesia wears off, s/he will be good to go!
The vet gave us some recycled newspaper pellets which she refused to use. But, shredded newspaper, and her regular litter in a ziploc bag in the bottom of the litterbox did the trick! Tomorrow night (7 days) it's back to the regular litter.