Published May 1, 2025
Sometimes cats come into our lives when we’re feeling our worst, helping us to heal and giving us a reason to go on. Snickers the smiling cat did just that for her mom, who had recently lost her own mother and was grieving her deeply.
Going on runs to cope with the loss led to her finding Snickers, a small kitten who desperately needed her help.
“Everything happened for a reason that day.”
Snicker’s mom says that they both needed saving. “Everything happened for a reason that day,” she says, crediting her deceased mother for bringing the two together.
At the time, Snicker’s trademark smile wasn’t as evident. She was young, frail, and sickly. Snickers had matted hair and goopy eyes. She was covered in fleas and kept shaking her head as though she had ear mites. She couldn’t even meow.
Her mom found her abandoned in a corn field and couldn’t leave her there. She carried her the two miles to her house, intent on saving the sweet kitten.
She gave her a flea bath and put up flyers, but no one claimed her. The next day, she brought Snickers to the vet where she was put on antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection. However, the medication didn’t make her any better.
An impossible choice
When Snicker’s mom brought her back to the vet, she was given the choice to put Snickers down or to take her to a specialist for more diagnostics. Specialist vet care can be very expensive, but she couldn’t give up on the kitten yet.
She drove Snickers to an internal medicine specialist two hours away, where they were able to find two large polyps inside of her ears and behind her eyes. Her mom says that she was so small, the polyps were almost the size of her head!
Snickers would need two major surgeries to save her life. During one of the surgeries, the polyp dropped into her throat. While the veterinarians were able to remove it, Snickers woke up blind with only a 50% chance of regaining her vision.
The lucky girl regained her sight eight weeks later, and has been healthy ever since. It’s amazing that she found a person who would take a chance on her and stick with her through thick and thin–and Snickers is surely a fighter herself after battling so many health problems!
Becoming the smiling cat
Snickers’ unique coat pattern emphasizes the upturn of her mouth, making her look like she’s constantly grinning. Though her mom didn’t notice her permanent smile right away, it became evident as she grew up and became healthier.
Her beautiful face and kind soul won over the hearts of over 100,000 people on Instagram, as well as her human.
“Snickers has just made my life whole again,” her mom says. She gave her a purpose when she needed one most, and she feels so lucky to have been able to help her in return.
I found my 15 yeard old boy as a small kitten while waiting for my vet’s office to open. I was there to pick up meds for our ageing Great Dane. We named him Gg, short for God’s gift which is exactly what he is. He and our Great Dane became besties and he would follow her around the house. It is the cat distribution system at work.