Sue got Pandora when she was six months old and had her for seventeen years. Pandora was both imperious (even when old and frail, no other cat would even dare challenge her) and faithful (once when Sue was sick in bed for a week, Pandora sat next to her the entire time.)
A little while ago, Pandora stopped eating and would barely drink water. The blood test showed irreversible kidney damage. Untreated, it would be a slow slide ending with convulsions. So we put her down yesterday. We’ll miss her.
My deepest sympathies, I know how you feel. When my daughter was at primary school she came home one day with a little matted dirty ball of fluff and pleaded, “daddy, daddy try to save it and I’ll find a home for it.” The little ball was a pratically new born kitten she found abandond. I cleaned it up and drip fed it, it survived and became my faithfull companion for 23 years. Like yours it developed a tumour and stopped eating and just lay on my desk and started to loose all its body weight and I had to take it to the vet to be put down. I often comment to my friends that it was the longest relationship in my life other than my children.