Ben.....To tell you the truth I don't think my cats even realize their claws are missing. They "sharpen" their "claws" all the time on lots of things. They both had it done at the same time as their neutering and they were just little kittens not even 6 months old so they have lived most of their lives without claws. In all honesty, I really feel they have quite a good quality of life. They live with a human who totally dotes on their every need! Of course, like I said before, I didn't know any better. As far as being afraid of the outside....that may have something to do with our insistence that they stay away from any opened door since we knew they were only going to be inside cats and were afraid for them to go out. It could be that they have been "trained" to back away from an open door. They sniff through the screens and that seems to satisfy their outside interests.