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O abrigo cujo veterinário está doente está fechado.

O abrigo cujo veterinário está doente está fechado.
The shelter whose veterinarian is sick is closed.
From Lesson 266:Whose (cujo, cuja, cujos, cujas)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about O abrigo cujo veterinário está doente está fechado.

Does cujo agree with the shelter or the veterinarian?
It agrees with the veterinarian. The relative determiner cujo (whose) always agrees in gender and number with the noun that comes immediately after it (the possessed thing), not the owner. Since veterinário is masculine and singular, we use cujo.
I am used to putting o or a before nouns. Why is it wrong to say cujo o veterinário?
A special rule for cujo, cuja, cujos, and cujas is that they are never followed by a definite article. Even though you normally use articles before nouns in Portuguese, with this word you must skip the article and go straight to the noun.
Why are we using está for both "is sick" and "is closed"? Wouldn't we use é for one of them?
Both situations use the verb estar because they describe temporary states or conditions. Sickness is a temporary state of health for the vet, and being closed is the current, changeable status of the shelter.
The sentence structure feels a bit tangled. What is the core sentence here?
The main sentence is simply O abrigo está fechado (The shelter is closed). The clause cujo veterinário está doente is just extra information dropped into the middle to specify exactly which shelter we are talking about.

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