Leaving for uni, I can't bring my cats with me

Hi everyone! I am leaving for university two hours away from my home in two months and I have two senior cats (12 and 13) that I love with my whole heart.

The issue is that I am struggling a lot to find a room for myself in the city and no homeowner or potential roommate I have met wants to live with cats.

I currently live alone with my cats, before we all lived at my father's house and before that at my mother's house. I don't trust my father to take care of them, when we lived together he did careless things that could have been dangerous to their well-being. My mother loves animals and would take good care of them, but we have a very difficult relationship and going to her house every weekend isn't an option.

I am considering to leave the cats with my mother until I can find another solution (at least for a few months) and to visit as regularly as possible. I am scared that they will feel abandoned and betrayed, especially since they are old and I have been with them for more than 10 years.

Could you please give me advice on how to make the transition easier for them? Do you have an idea on how I could avoid this situation?

Thank you so much for your patience and reading my post, a new perspective may help a lot,

Have a nice day :)