For some cats, this is cruel. Other cats tolerate a 100% indoor life with no complaint. I will provide my family's two cats as an example of both - both were ra

For some cats, this is cruel. Other cats tolerate a 100% indoor life with no complaint. I will provide my family's two cats as an example of both - both were raised by us from kittens, both raised to be indoors. They were both spayed, and my mother insisted on declawing them while they were under, just to prevent the scratching of furniture (which was very cruel. I was a child, so I had no input). One cat (no discernible breed, long black hair) would attempt to jump out the door every opportunity that it got. Finally it escaped, and would periodically escape through pushing out the screen on any window someone would forget to close. Eventually, she disappeared entirely - likely she died, since with no claws she could not protect herself from the wild of this Rocky Mountain state. This is a painful reminder that declawing is a bad idea. The other cat lives still (a Birman and/or Ragdoll variety, famously docile breed). It was always terrified of the outdoors and continues to have no interest in them. How would you feel if you were forced to live in a cage all your life when you yearned to be free? For some cats, this is cruelty. Keep those inside that you can, and some of the damage you mention will be minimized.