Cat and Dog Vocabulary

I’ve put some common dog and cat related words in Italian with phonetic pronunciation. The capital letters are the stress of the word.

 

If you are at the vet’s and are not sure of the ailment try the English medical name as a lot of the scientific terms are similar in Italian and English. For example uterus – utero, cardiac – cardio diabetes – diabete and so on. If you are unsure of the pronunciation, write the word down for your vet.

 

Names of breeds are more or less the same, but with Italian pronunciation! Here is an example from a genuine advert!

“West Thailand wait terrier” (Say it out loud!)

 

Pet /Pets – animale domestico (ani-MAH-leh do-MES-tik-oh) animali domestici (ani-MAH-lee do-MES-ti-chee)

Owner – proprietario/a (pro-pree-eh-TAR-ee-oh/ah)

Dog /Dogs – cane (KAH-neh)  cani (KAH-nee)

Puppy /puppies – cucciolo (KOO-chee-oh-loh) cuccioli (KOO-chee-oh-lee)

Cat /cats – gatto (GAH-to) gatti (GAH-tee)

Kitten/kittens – gattino (gah-TEEN-oh) gattini (gah-TEEN-ee)

Male – maschio (MAH-skee-oh)

Female – femmina (FEH-min-ah)

Vaccinated – vaccinato/a (vah-chi-NAH-toh/ah)

Tattooed – tatuato/a (tah-TOO-ah-toh/ah)

Wormed – sverminato/a (sver-min-AH-toh/ah)

Paw / paws – zampa (ZAM-pah) zampe (ZAM-peh)

Whiskers/moustache – baffi (BAH –fee)

Tail – coda (KOH-dah)

Leg /legs – gamba (GAM-bah) gambe (GAM-beh)

Mongrel – Meticcio/a  (meh-TICH-ee-oh/ah) (you’ll also hear bastardino a an acceptable term)

Pedigree – pedigree (‘con pedigree’ – with pedigree documents))

Cross – incrocio/a (in-KRO-chee-oh/ah) For example “incrocio Yorkshire terrier e chihuahua”

Spayed/neutered – sterilizzato/a (steh-rah –lee-ZA-toh/ah).

Microchip – microchip (MEE-croh-cheep)

Breed – razza (RATS-ah)

Large – taglia grande (TAH-lee-ah GRAN-deh) (OK, the gl sound is hard so I’ve copped out here!)

Medium – taglia media (TAH-lee-ah MEH-dee-ah)

Small – taglia piccola (TAH-lee-ah PEE-coh.lah)

Beautiful – bello/a (BEH-ll-oh/ah)

Well behaved/good – Buono/a (BWON-oh/ah)

Short haired – pelo raso (PAY-loh RAH-zoh)

Long haired – pelo lungo (PAY-loh- LOON-goh)

Toy breed – nano/a (NAH-noh/ah)

Animal lover – amante animali (ah-MAN-teh  an-ee-MAH-lee)