Female outdoor cats and a behavioral question

Question
Hi Jillian:

I actually have two quesions for you.  I hope you can help me.  

1. We have two female cats, both spayed.  One was a stray and the other was a kitten we got for free.  The stray is having a hard time adjusting, but she is getting a bit better.  We recently installed a cat door because the other cat likes to go outside a lot. The stray will go out at night and sit in the front yard.  Our neighborhood is full of roaming cats and there have recently been two separate ones in our front yard.  They're both spayed and know how to get back into the house quick if threatened, but the one thing i'm worried about is whether they will be "taken advantage of."  This may sound ridiculous, but the one cat (not the stray) is very friendly and wants to play with everything (from spiders to dogs to other cats) and I'm worried that one of the big male neighbor cats will harass it.  Will/can this happen even if the cat isn't in heat?  Is it something to be concerned about?  We had considered having her front claws removed, is this a terrible idea given her love for the front yard?

2. We also have a fairly high enery medium sized dog (who was there before either cat).  The kitten and dog love one another but when we brought the stray home she didn't like the dog.  The dog doesn't care much about the cat and ignores her more and more.  The stray cat growls at the dog when she comes in the room and although it is getting less troublesome (less growling and less running and hiding for hours), it has been several months and the adjustment isn't complete.  The dog doesn't bother her usually, and we took down the baby gates that used to keep them separate.  The only area that is off limits is the cat litter box (behind baby gates) and the cat food (we built a box over top of it for the cats to keep the dog from eating their food).  Does the cat need her own space beyond the fact that the dog doesn't usually come in the basement and bug her (and is frequently outside anyway)?  Should we give her a room that is only her's and the other cats (they get along great and play constantly)?  Or just continue waiting it out and let them deal with it?  Any thoughts?  

I know that second one is a tough question and my first question is really what I was worried about since I found another neighborhood cat in my yard near our cats tonight at 3 am.  Thank you so much for any help you can offer.

-BP

Answer
Well BP, I'll answer your question as Jillian seems to have sent this over to the question pool.

First of all, do not get your outdoor cat declawed! If you have many roving cats in the neighborhood, she may need those claws to defend herself. I am also of the opinion that declawing is cruel and disfiguring, but that is aside from the  point here. Male cats cannot fight as well as female cats, and I don't think you will have anything to worry about. If she knows where home is, and can get there if she feels threatened, she'll be just fine.

Secondly, the dog and the stray weren't raised together, so the progress you have made already is WONDERFUL! You have already done a fantastic job of providing the cats with their own space away from the dog, and it seems like you have done everything I traditionally tell others to do. As of now, it is a waiting game. As the cat gets older, she will learn to accept the dog, although they may never be as friendly as the kitten and the dog have become.

It sounds to me like you are a really first rate owner, keep up the awesome work with your pets!