A teenage girl in Argentina was shocked to learn her new pet was actually a wild jaguarundi puma and not the the cute cat she thought it was.
Florencia Lobo said she was enjoying a day of finishing near Santa Rosa de Leales, a town in the northern province of Tucumán, when she and her brother were distracted by the sound of a light cry.
Thinking it was a fallen bird, the siblings walked over to a tree and found two cubs on the ground.
Lobo adopted what she believed were two cats and gave them refuge in her home, naming them Tito and Dani, who suddenly died two weeks later.
According to Argentine outlet El Tucumano, Lobo found Tito to be a bit too active but never held out any suspicions.
'He likes to play, bite and run pretty fast,' Lobo said. 'He liked to get on the table and jump from there, he thought it was normal.'
Tito's hyperactiveness would finally catch up to him when, Lobo said, he injured one of his legs.
She took Tito to a local veterinarian only to find out that Tito was of a different species.
After contacting several veterinarians, who were out of her price range, the 18-year-old college student who majors in social work, reached out to an animal expert, who through a series of photos confirmed that Tito was a wild cat.
Lobo eventually handed him over to the Argentine Animal Rescue Foundation.
For now, Tito, identified as a jaguarundi puma, which is native to southern North America and South America, will receive the require medical treatment for his injured leg before he is eventually released into the wild.
'He followed me everywhere. He never lacked any meat, milk, or anything where I live. He was a pet for me,' a somber Lobo said.
If you raise and spoil him, you feel like he is yours and it causes you pain that they take him away, but deep down I know that it is good that they took him and will return it to nature.'
This article has been adapted from its original source.
