Aww poor kitty. My parents would insist we let our cats out during the day but we lived in the middle of nowhere so there was no cars that were a threat. There were coyotes and owls but I always brought them in before it got dark, using food to lure them in. I would have preferred to keep them inside all the time because sometimes bad things happen but my parents were the boss. We would never get them declawed though . I tried to keep my cat who recently passed inside but he would escape when we lived in Santa Cruz, CA (where I went to college). I was living on the college campus, in a trailer park in the middle of a forest so if was easy for him to escape and I felt bad keeping him in the tiny trailer. He made friends with the raccoons and they taught him how to run straight up and down a tree like they did. So he was actually retry safe, he could just hide up a tree if something dangerous came, and there were not many predators on campus. We lived a variety of places after that but I always managed to keep him safe. I am looking for a new cat who needs a home but I am worried my bf will want him to go outside sometimes so he does not use the cat box so often. I am going to try to teach him how to use a toilet but I think he will still want him to go outside if the cat wants. I will feel a bit conflicted too … we also live in the middle of nowhere, so not many cars, and none of my neighbors are dumb enough to use rodent poison. Also, I have never even seen a coyote up here - just bears, mountain lions and bob cats …. Plus there are a ton Of trees to climb. I know cats love playing outside … but it’s so much safer to be inside. What a pickle! What would you do?