O veterinário disse que a patinha dela está melhor, mas que ainda precisamos de vigiar o pêlo.

Portuguese often uses que after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, etc. It works like that in English:

• O veterinário disse que... = The vet said that...

Just like in English, that can sometimes be omitted in translation, but in Portuguese que is very commonly kept.

Patinha is the diminutive of pata.

• pata = paw
• patinha = little paw / pawy little paw

The diminutive -inho / -inha can suggest:

• small size
• affection
• tenderness
• a softer, more caring tone

So here a patinha dela sounds natural if someone is talking kindly about an animal.

Both can express possession, but dela is often clearer.

• a patinha dela = her paw / its paw
• a sua patinha could also mean your paw, his paw, her paw, or their paw, depending on context

Because seu/sua can be ambiguous, Portuguese very often uses:

• dele = his / its
• dela = her / its
• deles / delas = their

So a patinha dela is a very common way to avoid confusion.

Because this is talking about a temporary condition, not a permanent characteristic.

• estar is used for states and conditions
• ser is used for identity, classification, and more permanent qualities

So:

• A patinha está melhor = the paw is better / improving
• A patinha é melhor would sound wrong here

This is one of the most important ser vs estar distinctions in Portuguese.

In Portuguese, melhor can mean simply better in the sense of improved or doing better, without needing an explicit comparison.

• está melhor = is better / is doing better

You do not need to say do que antes (than before) unless you want to make the comparison explicit.

For example:

• Ela está melhor. = She is better.
• Ela está melhor do que ontem. = She is better than yesterday.

This repeats the structure from disse que... and links a second thing the vet said.

The sentence is basically:

• O veterinário disse que a patinha dela está melhor
• mas que ainda precisamos de vigiar o pêlo

In English, this is like:

• The vet said that her paw is better, but that we still need to monitor the fur.

The second que is very natural here. It keeps both parts grammatically parallel.

In European Portuguese, precisar de is the normal pattern for to need.

• precisamos de vigiar = we need to monitor
• literally: we need of monitoring

This de is very important in European Portuguese.

Examples:

• Preciso de ajuda. = I need help.
• Precisamos de falar. = We need to talk.
• Ela precisa de descansar. = She needs to rest.

You may sometimes see Brazilian Portuguese omit de in some cases, but in Portugal precisar de is the standard pattern.

Here vigiar means something like:

• to monitor
• to keep an eye on
• to watch carefully

It suggests paying attention to something in case there is a problem.

So vigiar o pêlo means the fur should still be checked carefully, probably to see whether there is irritation, infection, hair loss, healing, or some other change.

It is a bit more purposeful than just casually looking at something.

Precisamos is the 1st person plural of precisar:

• eu preciso = I need
• nós precisamos = we need

In this context, we usually means something like:

• the pet owner and perhaps the vet, in a general sense
• or more naturally, we as in you and I / all of us involved in caring for her

Portuguese often uses we in this kind of medical or veterinary context in a cooperative, slightly softer way, much like English:

• We still need to keep an eye on it.

Ainda means still here.

• ainda precisamos = we still need

This is a very normal position for ainda in Portuguese: it often comes before the verb or before the verbal idea it modifies.

Compare:

• Ainda está cansada. = She is still tired.
• Ainda temos tempo. = We still have time.
• Ainda precisamos de vigiar o pêlo. = We still need to monitor the fur.

Good question. Traditionally, pêlo with a circumflex meant hair/fur, while pelo could be the contraction of por + o (by the / through the) or appear in other uses.

So traditionally:

• o pêlo do cão = the dog’s fur
• pelo cão = by the dog / through the dog (depending on context)

Under the current spelling rules, pelo is generally the standard spelling for hair/fur too, so many modern texts write:

• vigiar o pelo

However, you may still see pêlo in older materials or in writing that preserves the older distinction. So the sentence is understandable, but learners should know that pelo is now more standard in current orthography.

Yes. In English, we often use its for animals, but when the animal is known, loved, or treated more personally, English speakers also often say her or his.

Portuguese commonly uses dele / dela for animals too:

• a patinha dela = her paw / its paw

So the exact English choice depends on tone and context, but the Portuguese is completely natural.

Yes, especially the part precisamos de vigiar.

That use of precisar de + infinitive is strongly associated with standard European Portuguese. The rest of the sentence is also fully natural in Portugal:

• O veterinário disse que...
• está melhor
• mas que ainda...

So overall, it sounds very normal for Portuguese from Portugal, especially in a caring medical or veterinary context.