Your cat reminded me of my house cat I had when I was very little. She looked exactly like your cat; and she was suffering in pain when she was pregnant and she was poisoned by my neighbour (because we found food thrown into my house) and I had to sit there, couldn't do anything and accompanied and cried until she had her last breath at home. Back in those days my village did not have vets there was nothing we could do.
Till this day I still remembered her paws kept touching mine when I was sitting there crying as she was gasping for air and "meowed". My family dog back then was her best friend and since then, my family dog never liked any other new cats except her left behind off-springs.
So I get how your mom feels when we sometimes are not capable to distinguish between pets and family.
upvoted