Ligers and neutering

Factual Questions
1

This thread and this thread got me thinking about how I want a pet liger.

(Note: I know this is illegal, immoral, and that the liger would eat me. That’s not the point. The point is that ligers are cool.)

My question is, if someone did have a pet male liger, would they need to have it neutered to stop it from roaming, spraying, etc? Or would it not do these things and whatever else male lions and tigers do, because it would be sterile?

I also wonder about male calico/tortoiseshell cats. As I understand it, they’re usually sterile because they’re XXY males instead of normal XY males. Do they engage in male-cat behaviors like spraying and roaming like other male cats if they’re not neutered?

2

AFAIK, male calico cats aren’t sterile because of their genetic makeup. They’re just very, very rare.

The behaviors you’re talking about are testosterone-related, so if your liger’s got his nuts, and those nuts are making hormones (regardless of whether he’s making functional sperm), he’s gonna spray, etc. Whether or not ligers produce enough testosterone to cause such behaviors, I don’t know.

3

Anne, I’ve been noticing we post a lot in the same threads lately, but if you’re on the liger bandwagon too, you shall officially be placed on my List of Cool People.