THE family of a five-year-old girl could face up to £10,000 in legal costs to have her pet cat returned after it was wrongly rehomed by an animal charity.

Deborah Cameron and her daughter Khianna were stunned to discover the tot’s pet, Precious, had been mistaken for a stray and was rehomed without their knowledge.

But the family say their only option to console the devastated youngster is to legally compel the animal’s new owners to release her back to them through the civil court – a fight which will cost thousands.

Deborah has now begun a a desperate bid to raise the cash, but she remains hopeful the new owners will “do the right thing”.

The mum-of-two said: “Nobody really cares, like it’s just a cat. But it’s not, Khianna and Precious did everything together.

“Every morning, she wakes and asks if she’s coming home today. It’s heart-wrenching.”

Precious was picked up less than a mile from her home in Cumbernauld back in January, after a member of a Facebook group - known as Harvey’s Army - mistook her for a stray despite her wearing a collar.

When the animal failed to return home, a worried Deborah contacted local vets and the Cats Protection charity in Falkirk, her local branch, but to no avail.

By time the family traced Precious to the charity’s Glasgow branch – 22 miles away – she had already been rehomed.

The charity said it has no powers to compel the new owner to return the beloved cat to a distraught Khianna.

A spokeswoman for Cats Protection said: “We appreciate this is a distressing time for everyone concerned and we understand the upset a situation like this can cause. Precious came into the care of our Glasgow Branch, via Harvey’s Army, on February 6. She was scanned but sadly did not have a microchip so we made efforts to locate an owner, including advertising on the branch website and social media sites and sharing her details with other online groups and charities.

“Cats Protection keeps stray cats for a minimum of two weeks before finding them a new home., to allow reasonable time for owners to come forward and claim them

“As no-one came forward to claim her during this time, she was adopted by a new family on February 26.

“We have since contacted the new owners to ask whether they would be prepared to give the cat back, but they have decided to keep her.”