Tiger Relief

Question
Hello Norm.  You were kind enough to answer a question for me about BIG cats, namely a lion.  Could you answer one about Siberian tigers?  I watched a YouTube video about a Siberian tiger in a zoo.  He backed up to the perimeter fence, lifted his tail and emitted a couple of quick spurts.  After that he walked a few paces into the interior of his enclosure, squatted, and voided a good puddle.  Was the first time just for marking and the second time just relief of his bladder, and if so why would he not just relieve himself completely while standing at the fence?  I see that felines resemble canines in that they can void in segments so to speak, conserving more of their "ammo" for later use.  All other animals I know of (and people) let it all out once they start.  If felines and canines are unique in this regard, do you have an explanation?  THANKS.

Answer
Ken,

This is a good question!!!!!  AFAIK, all felines, no matter the species can "spray", i.e. mark territory.  This behavior is most noteworthy in unneutered males, to a lesser extend unspayed females will carry out this behavior when in season, and to an even lesser extent, neuters and spays may carry on this behavior.  It seems to be hormonally linked.  Also, I have seen neutered males, spayed females go through the motions, but not emit any spay at all!!!!!

This marking behavior is separate from voiding to empty the bladder and only involves depositing a relatively small amount of urine on a vertical surface. Cats will spray to mark territory, or overmark territory from another cat who sprayed that area before.  Cats may also spray due to stress caused by a whole list of things (see http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-spraying-urine.htm for more information).

Seasonal regards... Norm