I used to have an inside cat, so I talked to my parents about this all the time. It became more appealing after I had to change my bedsheets and blankets a few times due to them being almost ripped to shreds, but I firmly believe that declawing cats isn't right (except for certain medical reasons), and this is why: 1) No matter how much bullshit you see on the internet, cats [i]need[/i] their front claws to catch food. Yes, they do defend themselves with their back legs/claws in addition to their front ones, but they [i]will die[/i] if they live outside and aren't able to sustain themselves. 2) The procedure itself is unnecessary mutilation. In many countries, it's actually illegal - declawing a cat is equivalent to someone cutting your finger off at the last knuckle. Doesn't sound good, does it? 3) It's a painful surgery with a painful recovery period. And, regardless of the pain, the cat will still have to use its feet to walk, jump, cover up its shit in the litterbox, or whatever the hell it normally does. Lots of cats have gotten infections after the operation, too. There are more reasons, like problems with them using the litterbox and personality changes, but those are pretty much the main ones. There are some good alternatives to declawing, too, like providing them with a scratching post, putting protective coverings on your furniture, making sure grabby little kids stay away from the cat, trimming its claws very carefully, use special caps that cover its claws to take off the damaging sharp edges, or even letting the cat stay outside if it's safe. http://www.catscratching.com would be a good website to look at. A declawed cat can still be happy and (mostly) healthy with a loving home but I would [i]never[/i] take that chance, especially if it has a habit of darting out of the house. I don't have time to cite sources but most of this is from my personal experience with cats and from all the resarch I've done. [spoiler]tl;dr declawing cats is inhumane and can lead to physical, emotional, and behavioral problems, and there are safe alternatives to surgery.[/spoiler]