My mom let two of her cats die horribly from what was probably cancer. Any time they got sick she just ignored it for years until they were on their death bed. Her favorite out of the two that she treated like a child slowly became skin and bones because he stopped eating over the course of a year. It wasn't until less than 24 hours before his death she actually took him to a vet. The part that truly scares me is she worshipped this cat. I always figured she'd fight to keep this cat alive forever, but instead she ignored all the signs until it was too late.

And now she has two more cats...neither neutered and one totally afraid of because she never socialized it. So, she's just detriorating.