Unusual 'Smiling' Calico Cat Doesn't Let Multiple Surgeries Ruin Her Cheer

For Snickers the smiling Calico cat, life did not start out on easy mode. She was found as a five month old kitten, abandoned, scrawny, and suffering from two serious tumors behind her eyes. Surgical intervention saved her sight and she found a home with a loving family charmed by her cheerful nature and seemingly ever-present “smile.”

But four years later, an accident left her with a torn ACL and a dislocated patella, requiring further surgery and several months of total crate rest. But it didn’t bring her down a bit, as this video shows.

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Snickers the calico is beloved for her online presence of goofy videos in which she always appears to be smiling, due in no small part to her unusual calico coloration, which includes a broad black stripe down the center of her face, two orange patches on her snout, and black patches on her lower jaw which help add to the appearance of her smile.

Related: Calico Cat's Adorable Cuddles With Dad Can Turn Anyone Into a Cat Person

But real grin or not, there’s no doubting that Snickers is a happy and contented cat.

The Cheerful Reputation of the Calico Cat

Calico cats—cats with orange, black and white splotches on their coats are almost always female, due to the way that coat colors work on cats. The genes determining whether a cat has an orange or black coat are located on the X chromosome, and exhibit co-dominance. Therefore, a female cat, who has two X chromosomes, with one copy containing the gene for orange coats and one copy the gene for black coats, will have a coat that is both orange and black. (A male cat will not be both orange and black unless a genetic accident has delivered them an extra X chromosome.) However, the gene for having white patches of fur on your body is located elsewhere. A cat who has all three genes will be a calico cat.

Calico cats are often said to be sweeter or kinder than cats of any other color, but the genetics for that are not exactly delineated. I can say in my personal studies of speaking to cat owners—who are surprisingly loyal to their favorite colored cats—people always think that whatever colored cat they personal prefer is the “friendliest color.”

In other words, cat personalities linking to coat colors is not exactly science.

Maybe Calico cats are just happy to be named the official cat of the state of Maryland, due to their resemblance to the state flag.

Do Cats Actually Smile?

Though one of the most famous cats in all of literature—the Cheshire Cat—is famous for his smile, it is not actually a facial expression that cats make. They appear to be smiling—as Snickers does—due to the shape of their snout and jawline. t is true that a cat who appears to be smiling has a relaxed face, which is certainly an expression one would wear when happy.

But they do not “smile when they are happy.” Rather, happiness and contentment in cats is seen via other activities, such as the “slow blink,” head butting, and even sitting in a “loaf” position, which indicates relaxation. And of course, the supreme sign of a cats happiness: purring.

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