Learn English useful for talking about your sick pet. Practise everyday phrases for explaining when an animal is not eating, drinking, or acting normally.
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This lesson is suitable for intermediate-level learners. After listening, test your knowledge with our quiz.
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Learning notes:
Examples of phrases you can use when talking about changes in eating and drinking:
- My cat is off his food.
- What do you usually feed him?
- I usually feed him dry cat foot in the morning.
- Has she touched her food today? .
- He doesn’t have an appetite.
- She hasn’t drunk any water at all.
- He’s barely drinking.
- She’s barely touched her water bowl.
- I’m worried he might be dehydrated.
Examples of phrases you can use when describing how your pet seems:
- He seems really flat.
- She’s not herself today.
- He seems a bit out of sorts.
- Her coat looks a bit dull.
- He’s losing fur around his ears.
- He seems really unwell.
- She perked up after drinking some water.
- He’s still not perking up. We should get help.
Examples of phrases you can use when talking about vomiting, poo, and toilet problems:
- Has he vomited at all?
- He threw up this morning.
- She’s been sick since last night.
- His poo’s been runny.
- He’s had diarrhoea since yesterday.
- The puppy had a runny tummy.
Examples of phrases you can use when talking to a vet or getting help:
- We should get him checked.
- I’ll keep an eye on him tonight.
- The vet will check her for dehydration.
- I’ll take his temperature.
Colloquial expressions:
Let’s not muck around means let’s not waste time. Let’s take this seriously and do something now.
To get someone checked means to have a professional person examine them properly. In this case, that professional is a vet.
To keep an eye on someone means to watch them carefully to see if they get better or worse.
Vocabulary:
Vet is short for veterinarian, an animal doctor.
Food is the thing your pet eats. But feed is usually the action of giving food to an animal.
Appetite is the desire to eat. If someone doesn’t have an appetite, they don’t want to eat.
To be off their food means not wanting to eat. You can use this phrase to talk about pets, and sometimes people who are sick and do not want to eat.
An animal’s coat means the fur or hair on its body.
Fur is the soft hair that grows on many animals.
To be flat means to feel or look unusually tired, quiet, low on energy.
To be not himself / herself means to behave differently from usual.
To be out of sorts means to feel a little unwell, tired, or not quite normal.
To vomit is what happens when food or drink comes back up from your stomach and out of your mouth.
To throw up is an informal way to say vomit.
Barely means only a little, almost nothing.
Poo is an informal word for the waste that comes out of the body after food is digested.
Runny means soft or watery.
Diarrhoea is when a person or animal feels unwell, needs to poo more often than usual and their poo is runny..
A litter tray is a tray filled with special material called cat litter that cats use as a toilet inside the house.
At all is a phrase we can use for emphasis in questions and negative s statements. It is usually a short form of ‘anything or anyone at all’.
A funny tummy is an informal way to say that you have problems with your tummy that we can use when talking about children or pets because it sounds softer and less medical.
Cat litter is the special material inside a litter tray.
Dehydration happens when the body does not have enough water.
Temperature is the measure of how hot or cold the body is.
A fever is a higher-than-normal body temperature.
To perk up means to start to look or feel better and have more energy.
Symptoms are signs that someone or an animal may be sick. These can include vomiting, diarrhoea, tiredness, or loss of appetite.
Learning notes:
In any language we often use informal rather than formal words when we are talking to friends or family. This is particularly true when we are talking about bodies or unpleasant things. Informal words are not in any way ‘bad. It is just that we use them in less formal situations or with people we know well. In the dialogue there are both formal and informal words for talking about sickness. You can choose which ones you use depending on who you are talking to and what your situation is.
FORMAL | INFORMAL |
Has lost his/her appetite | Off his/her food |
Is tired and lacks energy | Is really flat |
To vomit | To throw up |
Has diarrhoea | Has runny poo |
Has lost her appetite | Hasn't touched her food |
Not behaving normally | Out of sorts |
To watch carefully | To keep an eye on |
To look and feel more lively | To perk up |
Transcript:
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)
SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands, and waterways throughout Australia.
Have you ever looked at your pet and thought, ‘Something’s not right’? Maybe they won’t eat. Maybe they’re sleeping more than usual. Or maybe they’re giving you that sad little look that makes you cancel all your plans and start typing on your phone, ‘is my dog okay?’
Hi, I’m Josipa, and in this episode, we’re practising everyday English you can use when talking about a sick pet. Our pets can’t tell the vet what’s wrong, so we need to describe their symptoms clearly.
Today, Allan is worried about his cat, Milo. Milo is usually the first one in the kitchen when he hears a food packet open. He normally rubs against Allan’s leg, meows loudly, and acts like he hasn’t been fed in three days, even if he only ate something an hour ago. But today, Milo is sitting very still in the corner, ignoring his food bowl. Allan takes him to see Claire, who is a vet, that’s short for a veterinarian, an animal doctor.
Allan
Milo’s off his food and he seems really flat.
Claire
Poor thing. How long has he been like this? Has he vomited at all?
Allan
Since yesterday. He hasn’t vomited, but he’s barely drinking and his poo’s been runny.
Claire
Right, let’s not muck around. I’ll check him for dehydration and take his temperature.
Poor Milo. When pets are sick, it can be hard to know what’s wrong with them, so we need simple, clear language to describe what we notice is not quite right.
First Allan said,
Milo’s off his food.
If a pet is off their food, it means they do not want to eat. You can use “off their food” for pets, and sometimes also for people who are sick and do not want to eat.
Here, food is the thing your pet eats, But feed is usually the actioon og giving food to an animal.
For example, Claire might ask,
What do you usually feed him?
That means, what food do you usually give him?
You could answer:
I usually feed him dry cat foot in the morning.
You could also ask,
Has she touched her food today?
This means the food is still there, and she hasn’t eaten it.
So, with pets, we might say cat food, dog food, wet food, or dry food. But we use feed when we talk about giving that food to the animal.
Allan also said,
He seems really flat.
If someone or an animal seems flat, they seem tired, quiet, low on energy, or not like themselves. You could also say,
She’s not herself today.
This is a very useful phrase you can use to describe animals and people when they’re behaving differently from usual.
You might also hear people say,
He seems a bit out of sorts.
If someone or an animal is out of sorts, they seem a little unwell, tired, or not quite normal.
With pets, you might also notice changes in how they look. For example:
Her coat looks a bit dull.
An animal’s coat means the fur or hair on its body. We usually say hair for people, but coat sounds more natural when we are talking about an animal’s whole body.
You could also say:
He’s losing fur around his ears.
Fur is the soft hair that grows on many animals.
Then Claire asked,
Has he vomited at all?
To vomit is when food or drink comes back up from your stomach and out of your mouth. Not fun, not pretty, but hey… it has happened to everyone, right?
You can also say throw up in everyday, informal English.
For example,
- He threw up this morning.
- She's been sick since last night.
In this context, been sick can mean vomited. But we can also use the word ‘sick’ when we mean generally unwell, so use the word ‘vomit’ or ’sick’ if you need to be clear that some someone has vomited.
Claire asked, “Has he vomited at all?” We often use ‘at all’ as short for ‘anything at all’ in questions and statements to for emphasis.
For example,
Has he eaten at all?
This means ‘has he eaten anything at all’ and it stresses that we are asking whether he has even eaten a little bit.
Or we can use it for emphasis when we are making a negative statement about something. For example:
- She hasn't drunk any water at all.
- I don’t like this weather at all.
Talking about drinking...Allan said,
He’s barely drinking.
If someone is barely drinking, it means they are drinking only a little, almost nothing. You can use barely in a lot of everyday situations. For example,
I barely slept last night.
That means I slept very little.
Or,
I barely know her.
That means I only know her a little.
If your pet has drunk very little, you might say,
She’s barely touched her water bowl.
Allan then said,
His poo’s been runny.
This is an informal way to say that the poo is soft or watery. A more formal word is diarrhoea. You could say,
He’s had diarrhoea since yesterday.
Diarrhoea is when a person or animal feels unwell, needs to poo more often than usual and their poo is runny. For a cat, you might notice this in the litter tray.
A litter tray is a tray filled with special material called cat litter that cats use as a toilet inside the house.
But let’s say you have a sick puppy, you might say,
The puppy had diarrhoea after eating something from the bin.
Or, more informally, you could say
The puppy had a funny tummy after eating something from the bin.
To have a funny tummy is an informal way of saying that you have problems with your tummy. We often use it when talking about children or pets because it sounds softer and less medical.
These are not lovely phrases, I know. But they are useful. Very useful. Especially when you are talking to a doctor or a vet.
Then Claire said,
Right, let’s not muck around.
Let’s not muck around is an informal phrase that means let’s not waste time. Let’s take this seriously and do something now.
You might use it when something needs quick attention.
For example, If you are worried that she is not drinking and you think you need to see an expert quickly, you could say,
She’s barely drinking. Let’s not muck around.
You could also say,
He seems really unwell. We should get him checked.
To get someone checked means to have a professional look at them. In this case, that professional is a vet.
Another useful phrase is ‘ to keep an eye on him’. to keep an eye on a pet or a person or something else - means to watch them carefully, often to see if they get better or worse. For example,
I’ll keep an eye on Milo tonight and call the vet if he gets worse.
Claire then said,
I’ll check him for dehydration.
Dehydration happens when the body does not have enough water. If a person or an animal is not drinking much, dehydration can become serious.
You could say,
- I’m worried he might be dehydrated.
- The vet will check her for dehydration.
Claire also said,
I’ll take his temperature.
To take someone’s temperature means to check how hot their body is. If a person or animal has a high temperature, they may have a fever.
You can say,
- The vet took Milo’s temperature.
- He has a high temperature; we should call the vet.
Sometimes animals do perk up by themselves after a little rest. Has that ever happened with your pet?
To perk up means to start to look or feel better and have more energy. You can use it for people, too. You could say,
She perked up after drinking some water.
But if your pet is not getting better, you could say,
He’s still not perking up. We should get help.
And remember, if a pet is barely drinking, has runny poo, seems very flat, or you are worried about them, it is always best to contact a vet. These are all symptoms, that is, signs that they may be sick. Other symptoms that might worry you include vomiting, tiredness, or loss of appetite.
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Paul Nicholson and Lily O'Sullivan voiced the characters of Allan and Claire, and Professor Lynda Yates was our educational consultant.
