The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 13 letter word SABRE-TOOTHED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
A
B
R
E
-
T
O
O
T
H
E
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "like an old tiger" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case like an old tiger = sabre-toothed.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.