Updated May 11: Revised to include additional information about third kitten.

A San Antonio family learned a painful lesson after they brought two kittens into their home: They actually had a pair of young bobcats.

"Three people were bitten," Lisa Norwood, a spokeswoman for the city's Animal Care Services, told KENS-TV. "Bitten on the hand. Not bad bites, but bites nonetheless."

The family originally told authorities that they found the kittens close to their home near Salado Creek in northeastern San Antonio. Authorities said Wednesday, however, that the bobcats were found by a relative in Atacosa County, south of San Antonio, and then taken to the family's home.

An Animal Care Services spokeswoman told the San Antonio Express-News on Friday that a third, weaker kitten, died before making it to the family's home.

The family tried to give milk to the surviving kittens, which they maintain they thought were Bengal cats — a domestic cat bred to look like a jungle cat. But when the kittens started biting people and ripping apart the milk bottles, the family started looking for information online.

"I think they started doing a little bit more research and educating themselves and thinking, 'You know what, these don't look like your standard house cat. Maybe we should call somebody,'" Norwood told the TV station.

Animal Care Services picked up the kittens and took them to Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation. They are under quarantine and will be monitored before being released into the wild.

1 / 4A San Antonio family found a pair of what they thought were domestic kittens in an alley near their home.(City of San Antonio Animal Care Services) 2 / 4But they were actually bobcat kittens, and three people were bitten.(City of San Antonio Animal Care Services) 3 / 4Bobcat kittens are distinguished by their black-tipped ears and bobbed tails.(City of San Antonio Animal Care Services) 4 / 4Experts say to leave them alone if you see them in the wild.(City of San Antonio Animal Care Services)

Authorities with the city's animal services and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department are investigating now that the information about where the kittens were actually found has come to light.

"With the increased implications and the fact that this falls under the jurisdiction of our Texas game wardens, we will continue to work with them to investigate the potential criminality of the animal's capture and relocation," Shannon Sims, assistant director of Animal Care Services, told the San Antonio Express-News.

Lynn Cuny, the founder and president of the wildlife rescue, told the newspaper that the story is a tragic one for the young bobcats.

"These two infants' lives were altered the moment they were stolen from their mother," she said. "Not only will they never know her loving care but these bobcats now have to be raised by humans, their No. 1 predator. Though we trust they will do well, the fact is no wild animal baby should ever have to make such a traumatic adjustment and suffer the trauma of being orphaned."

Bobcats range across Texas, and they are spotted regularly in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In Richardson alone, 24 have been captured in the past three years.

Kittens have black-tipped ears, usually with tufts of black hair at the top, and short, black-tipped tails. Experts say the best thing to do if you see bobcat kittens on their own is to leave them alone — their mother is likely off hunting.