My kids and cat fence keep my cat Mori young

Yesterday at Mori's annual checkup the vet said that Mori looked like a younger cat. He's eleven years old now.

Last year he went to the vet having snuck outside and been abused by a neighbor who was convicted of animal cruelty and had to pay my vet bills and serve community service.

For several days he dragged himself around the house like a very old man. We worried about it and gave him lot of very gentle petting and tried to cajole him to eat and drink.

Now we have built a cat fence for our back yard. Yes they do work but periodically he finds a chink and worms his way out again. So we walk around trying to find the 1/4 inch hole he's exploited and patch it up. It seems more like something to do than a discontent with our back yard. He always returns at mealtimes meowing at the front door or when called. And our other cat seems perfectly content to stay in our yard and has never once escaped.

The back yard provides exercise sunshine and a lot of ways to run around. He also comes inside and gets a lot of petting and attention from the kids. My daughter carries him around with her arms stuck out. He's so big compared to her that he's secure but it's very peculiar to see them together. Then he wants less attention so he goes into our yard again.