How Every Version Of Snowball The Cat Was Killed On The Simpsons

Snowball II is the cat currently living with the Simpson family at 742 Evergreen Terrace. As far as any casual viewer is concerned, that has been the case ever since "The Simpsons" premiered in 1989. While the series began after the death of the original Snowball, and the first cat seen on "The Simpsons" was named Snowball II, that was not the same Snowball II seen today. In fact, Lisa Simpson went through several Snowballs in Season 15, Episode 15 of "The Simpsons," titled "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot."

The episode, which primarily focused on Homer disguising himself as a robot to compete on "Robot Rumble," saw Lisa having a run of bad luck after losing the original Snowball II. Shortly after that cat died, Lisa's next two cats also met with untimely ends. When Lisa was ready to finally give up on cat ownership, Eleanor Abernathy, aka Springfield's Crazy Cat Lady, threw a black cat into her arms. This little feline was initially turned away by Lisa, only to run in front of an oncoming car that swerved into a tree. Lisa was suddenly convinced this was "a good luck kitty." That good luck did not extend to Gil Gunderson, who was driving the crashed car, which then violently exploded.

Lisa dubbed her new cat Snowball V before deciding to rename her Snowball II to avoid buying a new bowl. So far, this Snowball II is the Simpsons' only cat whose nine lives haven't been cut short.

Snowball I –- or just Snowball when she was alive –- died before "The Simpsons" began. The series' first ever episode was the Christmas-themed, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," which featured Marge writing a letter for the Simpsons' family Christmas card, in which she revealed Snowball had been "unexpectedly run over and went to kitty heaven." Marge was quick to point out Snowball had already been replaced by Snowball II.

Season 3, Episode 1 of "The Simpsons," titled "Stark Raving Dad," revealed more about Snowball's death through a poem written by Lisa. Titled "Meditations on Turning Eight," the poem read "I had a cat named Snowball. She died, she died. Mom said that she was sleeping. She lied, she lied. Why, oh why is my cat dead? Couldn't that Chrysler hit me instead?" Later, in "Treehouse of Horror III," Lisa revealed that Snowball was run over by Clovis Quimby, the drunken brother of Mayor Quimby.

Snowball has appeared numerous times on "The Simpsons" in flashbacks, photos, and one trip to Heaven. She has usually been depicted as a white cat, highlighting the joke of Snowball II, a black cat, inheriting an ill-suited name. On a few occasions, however, the original Snowball has been depicted as a black cat, identical to Snowball II.

The Snowball II introduced in "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" made it all the way to Season 15 of "The Simpsons" before meeting her demise. "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" saw Bart trying to persuade Homer to buy him a new bike by throwing his old one into the path of Dr. Hibbert's Mercedes. An apologetic Dr. Hibbert offered to buy Bart a new bike and vowed to pay more attention to the road, shortly before also running over Snowball II.

Snowball II was buried in the Simpsons' backyard, next to Snowball I (though Snowball I's grave was also seen in the Springfield Pet Cemetery). Lisa delivered a eulogy for Snowball II in the form of another poem, titled "Cat Math." The poem simply read: "Four paws, plus one tail, plus nine lives equals one special cat. One special cat minus nine lives equals one sad little girl."

After Snowball II died, Marge took Lisa to the Springfield Animal Shelter ("A loving sanctuary for animals... For up to seven days") to pick out a new pet cat. Lisa was apprehensive at first, believing she wasn't ready to get a new cat so soon after Snowball II's passing. However, Marge insisted getting a new pet was a good idea, having read it in "When Bad Things Happen to Cute Children" –- a book she trusted implicitly, since it was written by a surfing rabbi.

Dismissing several other cats at the shelter for being "too fluffy, too Siamese, too needy, too stuck up, infected eye, clearly a skunk," Lisa suddenly fell in love with a brown cat she dubbed Snowball III. Lisa later prepared a meal for Snowball III as the cat attempted to fish the family's goldfish out of its tank. When Lisa returned with the food bowl, she was horrified to find Snowball III floating in the fish tank.

Marge tried to console Lisa after Snowball III's death by reminding her that, according to Lisa's Buddhist beliefs, the cat would be reincarnated as a higher form of life. "Like a dog, or a snowman," Homer chipped in.

After the death of Snowball III, Marge took Lisa to get another new cat. Despite expressing doubts about opening her heart to another cat, Lisa was drawn to a white kitten named Coltrane. Lisa believed the name, which the cat shared with jazz musician John Coltrane, was a sign that this was the cat for her. Marge said a cat needed a name like "Whiskers" or "Paws Scaggs," but Lisa stuck with Coltrane. The later arrival of Snowball V retroactively positioned Coltrane as Snowball IV.

Upon bringing Coltrane home, Lisa tried to play the kitten some saxophone music by his musical namesake. This wasn't well received by Coltrane. As soon as Lisa started playing, the cat jumped up and ran out of Lisa's bedroom window. Coltrane received a brief funeral, at which Lisa's eulogy highlighted that the journey home from the cat shelter had been their only real time together.

Following Coltrane's death, the cats at the Springfield Animal Shelter no longer wanted to take their chances with Lisa. It was only the chance appearance of the Crazy Cat Lady that landed Lisa with Snowball V, who was quickly renamed Snowball II. Principal Skinner, who was passing by, noted that the cat's name seemed like "a cheat." Lisa reminded Skinner of his own covered-up identity as Armin Tamzarian, prompting both Skinner and the audience to overlook the renaming of Snowball V.