Snowball is a white female cat who died and only briefly appeared in a flashback, but has been mentioned numerous times. She was the Simpsons' first cat. Her death has never been shown.
Snowball I was first mentioned in a Christmas letter Marge was writing where she explains that Snowball I had died that year
[1].
Snowball II was the Simpson family's second cat. Snowball II was named after
Snowball I. Though Snowball I had white fur, which obviously inspired her name, Snowball II had black fur and greenish/yellow eyes.
Lisa adopted Snowball III from an animal shelter shortly after the death of Snowball II. At the shelter, she passed over a skunk, a Siamese cat, a cat she assessed as "too needy," and a cat with an eye infection before finally deciding upon Snowball III. After bringing him home, Lisa went into the kitchen to prepare some cat food to serve Snowball III his first meal in his new home. She went into the living room to check on him, only to find him drowned in the aquarium, apparently having tried (and failed) to catch a goldfish.[1]
Lisa adopted Coltrane from an animal shelter shortly after the death of Snowball III. Originally, Lisa was not sure whether she wanted another cat. However, she was won over by his original name (Coltrane), which made him a namesake of jazz musician and sax player John Coltrane.
As soon as she brought Coltrane the cat home, Lisa decided to play some of John Coltrane's music for him. Unfortunately, the music either frightened him or wasn't to his liking, as he jumped out the window to his death. Lisa held a memorial service for him, as she had just recently done for Snowball II and Snowball III. Coltrane's service ended up being very brief, however, as the only thing Lisa could think of to say was "We'll always have the ride home from the animal shelter."
Coltrane had green eyes. He was the only Simpson cat (except for Snowball I) that was actually white; previous and future cats named "Snowball" are black or brown. [1]
Snowball V, commonly referred to as Snowball II, is the Simpsons' fifth cat and looks exactly like the original Snowball II, who died when a truck hit her. The Crazy Cat Lady throws the cat at Lisa while she is mourning the deaths of the other cats that she kept (Snowball III and Coltrane). She and Santa's Little Helper are the two current pets of the Simpson family.
