At the vet in Spanish: booking, symptoms, vaccines and neutering in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina
Your dog stops eating on a Sunday and you have to explain it to a vet you have never met. You rarely learn the words you need there in a course. You have to name a part of an animal, say how long it has been going on, answer questions about vaccines, and use a word for neutering that changes from country to country. Below: booking the appointment, saying what is wrong, vaccines and deworming, the neutering words, food and pet shop vocabulary, what the vet will ask you, and the street rules for dogs in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina.
The words for the animal
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| pet | la mascota | Everywhere. Spain also says el animal de compañía in official text |
| dog | el perro, la perra | Perra is also an insult about a woman, as in English. Say la perrita about a female dog and nobody hears the other meaning |
| little dog, affectionate | el perrito, la perrita | Used for any dog of any size, everywhere |
| cat | el gato, la gata | La gata carries the same warning as la perra. La gatita is the safe form |
| kitty | el michi (Mexico), el gatito (everywhere) | Michi is affectionate and young-sounding, and common online across Latin America |
| doggo | el lomito (Mexico) | Affectionate Mexican for a dog, online and in speech |
| puppy | el cachorro | Everywhere, and used for the young of other animals too |
| male / female | macho / hembra | The vet will use these words, not él and ella |
Booking the appointment
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I want to book an appointment | Quiero pedir una cita. (Spain, Colombia, Mexico) / Quiero sacar un turno. (Argentina) | Argentina says turno, not cita, for any appointment |
| Do you take walk-ins? | ¿Atienden sin cita? / ¿Atienden sin turno? (Argentina) | |
| My dog is unwell | Mi perro está mal. | The everyday way to say it |
| How much is a consultation? | ¿Cuánto cuesta la consulta? | |
| Do you do home visits? | ¿Hacen visitas a domicilio? | |
| Is there an emergency vet nearby? | ¿Hay alguna veterinaria de urgencias por aquí? |
In Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, la veterinaria is both the place and the woman who runs it, and you tell which from the context. In Spain the place is usually la clínica veterinaria. An Argentine veterinaria on a street corner normally sells food and leads as well as treating animals.
Out of hours the sign to look for is urgencias in Spain and Argentina, and urgencias or emergencias in Mexico and Colombia. De guardia (Spain) and de turno (Argentina, Colombia) mean on duty tonight.
Saying what is wrong
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| He is not eating | No está comiendo. / No quiere comer. | The most common opening line |
| He has been sick | Está vomitando. / Vomitó tres veces. | Spain also says ha vomitado tres veces |
| He has diarrhoea | Tiene diarrea. | |
| He is limping | Está cojeando. / Cojea de la pata de atrás. | Pata is the leg of an animal. Renguea is the Argentine word for limps |
| He is scratching a lot | Se rasca mucho. | |
| He is very down | Está decaído. / Está muy apagado. | Decaído is what the vet writes down |
| Something bit him | Lo picó algo. | An insect. A dog bite is lo mordió un perro |
| He was hit by a car | Lo atropelló un coche. (Spain) / un carro (Mexico, Colombia) / un auto (Argentina) | |
| He ate something he should not have | Se comió algo que no debía. | |
| He has a lump here | Tiene una bolita aquí. | Bolita is what owners say, bulto or masa is what the vet says |
| He has fleas | Tiene pulgas. | |
| He has ticks | Tiene garrapatas. | |
| For three days | Desde hace tres días. | |
| He is on heat | Está en celo. |
The body words the vet will point at: la pata (leg or paw), la oreja (ear), el ojo (eye), el hocico (snout), la panza or la barriga (belly), la cola and el rabo (tail), la piel (skin), el pelo or el pelaje (coat), las uñas (claws), los dientes (teeth).
Vaccines and deworming
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| vaccine | la vacuna | |
| the rabies jab | la antirrábica / la vacuna contra la rabia | La antirrábica on its own is understood by every vet in the four countries |
| Is he up to date? | ¿Está al día con las vacunas? | You will be asked this |
| the vaccine card | la cartilla de vacunación (Mexico, Spain) / el carné de vacunación (Colombia) / la libreta sanitaria (Argentina) | Bring it. Vets write in it by hand in all four |
| to deworm | desparasitar | |
| the wormer | el desparasitante (Mexico, Colombia) / el antiparasitario (Spain, Argentina) | Both are understood everywhere |
| flea treatment pipette | la pipeta | The squeeze-on liquid, called pipeta in all four |
| microchip | el microchip | ¿Está chipado? in Spain, ¿Tiene microchip? everywhere |
Microchipping a dog is compulsory in Spain, and a vet there will ask about it early in the visit. In the other three countries vets chip animals routinely for travel and recovery, without a country-wide requirement of the same kind.
Neutering, and the three verbs for it
Learners get stuck here, because the neutral word and the everyday word are different.
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The clinical word | esterilizar | esterilizar | esterilizar | castrar or esterilizar |
| Said of a male | castrar | castrar | castrar | castrar |
| What owners actually say | Lo voy a operar. | Lo voy a operar. | Lo voy a operar. | Lo voy a castrar. |
| The campaign word on the poster | esterilización | esterilización | esterilización | castración |
Esterilizar is safe in all four countries and for both sexes. Castrar is the word for a male in all four, and in Spain and Argentina it is used loosely for females too. Operar, to operate, is the everyday euphemism owners use with each other and with the vet, and it is never wrong.
There are free or cheap neutering days in all four countries, usually run by a city council or a shelter. The poster says jornada de esterilización in Mexico and Colombia, campaña de esterilización in Spain, and castración gratuita in Argentina. The shelter is la protectora in Spain, and el refugio, el albergue or la fundación in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
Surgery and after
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| the operation | la operación / la cirugía | |
| Should he fast? | ¿Tiene que estar en ayunas? | The standard instruction before surgery |
| the stitches | los puntos | Le quitan los puntos en diez días, the stitches come out in ten days |
| the cone | el collar isabelino | The plastic cone. Everyone calls it this |
| When do I bring him back? | ¿Cuándo lo traigo de vuelta? | |
| a blood test | un análisis de sangre (Spain, Argentina) / unos exámenes de sangre (Colombia) / unos estudios de sangre (Mexico) | |
| an X-ray | una radiografía | Shortened to una placa in Mexico and Argentina |
| to put him to sleep | la eutanasia / dormirlo | Dormirlo is the soft way to say it. Spain also says sacrificarlo, which is blunt |
Travel paperwork
The requirements come from the destination country, so the words here are for asking, not for planning.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I want to travel with my dog | Quiero viajar con mi perro. ¿Qué necesito? | |
| the health certificate | el certificado de salud / el certificado veterinario | The document every airline asks for |
| the export certificate | el certificado zoosanitario | Issued by SENASICA in Mexico, SENASA in Argentina, the ICA in Colombia |
| the EU pet passport | el pasaporte para animales de compañía | Spain and the rest of the EU. Your vet issues it once the animal is chipped and has a valid rabies vaccine |
| Is the rabies vaccine valid? | ¿La antirrábica está vigente? | Vigente is the word on every document for still valid |
| the carrier | el transportín (Spain) / la transportadora (Colombia, Mexico) / la jaula de transporte (Argentina) |
Rules and time limits for animal travel change often and depend on the destination as much as the origin. Ask your vet and the airline directly.
Food, and the pet shop
The word for dry food is different in every one of the four countries.
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dry food | las croquetas | el pienso | el concentrado | el balanceado or el alimento balanceado |
| pet shop | la tienda de mascotas | la tienda de animales | la tienda de mascotas | el pet shop or la veterinaria |
| litter | la arena para gato | la arena del gato | la arena para gato | las piedritas sanitarias or la arena sanitaria |
| lead | la correa | la correa | la correa | la correa |
| treats | los premios | los premios or las chuches | los premios or las galletas | los premios |
More shop words, the same in all four: el arnés (harness), el collar, la placa (ID tag), el comedero (food bowl), el bebedero (water bowl), el juguete (toy), el rascador (scratching post), la caja de arena (litter tray), la peluquería canina (dog groomer). On the bag: para cachorro, para adulto, sin cereales (grain free), de cordero (lamb), de pollo.
Dogs in the street
La correa is expected in all four countries in any city centre, park or public building, and a loose dog will get you told off by strangers before any official says anything.
El bozal is the muzzle. Spanish law has a category, perros potencialmente peligrosos, with extra requirements for the owner in public. Those rules have been rewritten recently, so check the current version for your region. In Mexico, Colombia and Argentina the equivalent rules are set city by city, so ask locally.
Picking up after the dog is recoger la caca, and in Mexico people also say el popó. Many Spanish towns fine for it and some also require you to rinse the spot, so a water bottle in the bag is a normal sight there. El paseador de perros, the walker with ten leads in one hand, is a Buenos Aires institution.
Two courtesy phrases worth having ready: ¿Muerde?, does he bite, which is what a stranger asks before reaching down, and Es bueno, no muerde, he is friendly, he does not bite.
What the vet will say
| You will hear | What it means |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué le pasa? | What is wrong with him? |
| ¿Desde cuándo? | Since when? |
| ¿Está vacunado? | Is he vaccinated? |
| ¿Trae la cartilla? | Do you have the vaccine card with you? |
| ¿Está desparasitado? | Has he been dewormed? |
| ¿Cuándo fue la última desparasitación? | When was the last wormer? |
| ¿Es macho o hembra? | Male or female? |
| ¿Cuántos años tiene? | How old is he? |
| ¿Está esterilizado? | Is he neutered? |
| ¿Come normal? ¿Toma agua? | Is he eating normally? Is he drinking? |
| Súbalo a la mesa. | Put him up on the table. |
| Sujételo, por favor. | Hold him, please. |
| Le voy a poner una inyección. | I am going to give him an injection. |
| Tráigalo en ayunas. | Bring him in having eaten nothing. |
Note the forms. In a small clinic in Spain the vet will usually address you as tú and say tráelo, súbelo. Colombian vets stay with usted throughout, including between people who know each other. Mexican vets open with usted and may soften. Argentines use vos, so the instructions come out as subilo, sujetalo, traelo, where the stress sits on the verb’s last vowel instead of earlier as in súbelo, sujétalo, tráelo.
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- Quiero pedir una cita, mi perra está mal. I want to book an appointment, my dog is unwell.
- Quiero sacar un turno para mañana. I want an appointment for tomorrow. (Argentina)
- No está comiendo desde hace dos días y vomitó anoche. He has not eaten for two days and was sick last night.
- Cojea de la pata de atrás. He is limping on his back leg.
- ¿Está al día con las vacunas? Aquí traigo la cartilla. Is he up to date? I have the card here.
- Necesito la antirrábica y una desparasitación. He needs the rabies jab and worming.
- Quiero esterilizarla. ¿Cuánto cuesta la operación? I want her neutered. How much is the operation?
- Tiene pulgas. ¿Me da una pipeta? He has fleas. Can I have a pipette?
- ¿Tienen croquetas para cachorro? Do you have puppy food? (Mexico)
- Es bueno, no muerde. He is friendly, he does not bite.
Questions people ask
How do I say “vet” in Spanish? El veterinario or la veterinaria for the person. For the clinic, you can say la veterinaria in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, and la clínica veterinaria is clearer in Spain.
Is it “esterilizar” or “castrar”? Esterilizar is safe everywhere and for both sexes. Castrar is normal for a male in all four countries and is used for females too in Spain and Argentina. If you want to avoid choosing, say lo voy a operar.
What do I call dry dog food? Croquetas in Mexico, pienso in Spain, concentrado in Colombia, balanceado in Argentina. Each word is local to its country, so learn the one for where you live.
How do I say my dog is sick? Está mal for generally unwell, está vomitando for actually being sick. Enfermo is understood but sounds like a diagnosis rather than a symptom.
Do I need a pet passport to travel? Inside the EU, including Spain, yes: el pasaporte para animales de compañía, issued by a vet once the animal is chipped and vaccinated against rabies. From Mexico, Colombia and Argentina it is a health certificate from the state animal health agency plus the destination’s own requirements.
How do I ask if a dog is friendly? ¿Muerde?, does he bite, is what people actually ask. ¿Es bueno? and ¿Puedo acariciarlo?, can I stroke him, are the softer versions.
Practise these words
mascota, perro, gato, cachorro, vacuna, vacunar, desparasitar, esterilizar, cita, correa, pata, morder, comer. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.