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Si el gato no traga la pastilla, póngale una inyección.

Si el gato no traga la pastilla, póngale una inyección.
If the cat doesn't swallow the pill, give him an injection.
From Lesson 133:Pronouns with affirmative commands (dámelo, hágalo)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Si el gato no traga la pastilla, póngale una inyección.

Why is le attached to the end of ponga?
Ponga is an affirmative command, meaning you are telling someone to do something. In Spanish, when you use an affirmative command, you must attach object pronouns like le directly to the end of the verb to form one single word.
Why is there an accent mark on póngale?
The original command is ponga, which is spoken with the stress on the first syllable: PON-ga. When you attach le, the word gets an extra syllable. To keep the spoken stress on that original syllable, we must add a written accent mark: póngale.
The English translation says "give him an injection", so why does the Spanish sentence use a form of poner instead of dar?
While we say "give an injection" in English, Spanish uses the verb poner, which generally means to put or place. So you are literally telling someone to "put" an injection. The word ponga is the formal command form of poner.
What does the le in póngale represent here?
It represents the cat (el gato). It is an indirect object pronoun meaning "to him" or "to it". Even though the cat is an animal, we still use le to indicate who is receiving the action of the injection.

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