Talking canned wine

Louie On Wine

VISITING a Costas vet is unlikely to be hindered by non­communication.

Practically all of them understand and can make themselves understood in English because foreign residents make up a large part of their clientele.

Even so, you will share a waiting room with Spanish clients with a wailing cat carrier on their knee or an unhappy dog shuddering at their feet.

A cat (gato) was formerly tolerated as a mouser while a dog earned its keep as a hunter (perro de caza) or a herder (perro pastor).

Anything else was dismissed un perro faldero or a lapdog, scornfully used in both languages for a subservient person who idolises, or is controlled by, somebody else.

Instead, cats and dogs have now earned the affectionate label of animales de compañía or the twee­sounding mascota which sounds less twee to a Spanish­speaker.

Meanwhile, back at the vet’s….. la consulta del veterinario/de la veterinaria:

He/she is off­colour…..no está bien

He/she is off his/her food…..no come bien

I think he/she has a temperature… ..creo que tiene fiebre

He/she has a runny nose…..está moqueando

He/she is scratching his/her ears…..se rasca mucho las orejas

Depending on your speech patterns:

I want to sterilise/spay/neuter/doctor my dog/cat…..quiero esterilizar/castrar mi perro/mi gato

I would like to microchip my dog/cat… ..quiero poner un microchip a mi perro/mi gato

I want to vaccinate my dog/cat…..quiero vacunar a mi perro/gato

I want to get rid of fleas /ticks …..quiero un producto para eliminar piojos/garrapatas

There will be things you might not want to hear:

He/she has distemper/mange/fleas/ worms…..tiene moquillo/sarna/ piojos/lombrices or parásitos internos/ We need to operate…..hay que operar And something you might have to accept:

We need to put your dog/cat to sleep… ..hay que sacrificar, dormir, practicar la eutanasia a tu perro/gato

Having ended on an unhappy note, bear in mind that miseria in Spanish means poverty, not misery, although both conditions are pretty miserable, whichever way you look at them.