This is the heartwarming moment a rescue team saved a hapless cat impaled on iron railings.

The black-and-white tomcat was reportedly trying to mate with a female housecat when it slipped while jumping across roofs in Udon Thani in northeast Thailand.

Locals called animal rescuers after finding the male stray dangling helplessly from a sharp iron spike in a neighbourhood on Thursday morning.

Emergency crews arrived at the home where they found the exhausted feline visibly exhausted from the ordeal.

Footage shows a volunteer with protective gloves covering the frightened animal's face with a towel, as another officer used cutting tools to saw off the spike from the fence.

The rescue took only three minutes as the injured cat bolted from the scene with a limp.

One rescuer, Anusit Saenbungkhor, 30, was bitten on the hand during the operation and was later treated at Udon Thani Hospital after receiving first aid on site.

Homeowner Theethat Pimpa, 60, said the tomcat was part of a clowder of semi-feral strays that roamed the area.

He said: 'At around 3 am, I heard cats fighting, probably over a female, then one of them let out a painful scream.

'My daughter and I went out to check but couldn't find anything. We kept hearing the sound until about 8 am but it wasn't until 9 am that we spotted the poor cat dangling on our neighbour's fence across the road.

'We tried to help, but she was afraid she might hurt it more and didn't have the right tools, so we called for rescuers.'

Theethat added that the cat has not been seen since the rescue, but hoped it was healing from its injury.