This is the gruesome moment a ravenous python swallowed a pet cat in front of its horrified owner.

The beast slithered into a yard and pounced on the unsuspecting black-and-white kitten named Longma in Udon Thani, Thailand.

It squeezed the life out of the one-year-old feline before swallowing it whole in full view of the horrified owner, Kusuma Tarat, 60, on April 19.

Kusuma was too afraid to intervene as the kitten was already dead. Pythons can also attack humans when provoked.

Footage shows the 13ft snake dragging Longma's limp body into a rubber tyre where it proceeded to engulf the beloved pet whole.

Heartbroken Kusuma called snake catchers to her home after watching the nightmare sight unfold.

Volunteer animal handlers arrived at the resident's home and found the sated python still nestled in the wheel. They caught it easily as it was still digesting its last meal.

Shaken Kusuma said: 'I had just given my kitten some rice to eat then went to sweep the house. Not even five minutes passed when I glanced over and found Longma dead.

I went over and I suddenly heard a loud hissing noise coming from the cloth-covered tyre nearby. I lifted the cover and was horrified to see the huge snake coiled up.

'I didn't know if it was a python or a boa, but I was terrified and immediately called for help from the rescue team. While I was waiting, the snake raised its head to eat my kitten. I cried because I felt so heartbroken. I was too scared to go near it. I couldn't even hold my little one.

'Watching it happen was like being in the middle of a nightmare. It was worse than a horror film. My whole body was trembling.'

Rescue volunteers later released the python into the wild. However, wildlife officers said they would need to catch it because it was an 'especially fierce and dangerous' mixed-breed species.