Is touching a pregnant cat's belly safe? Could it cause miscarriage?

There is a lot of extra fluid in the abdomen due to the amniotic fluid, and that in combination with the kittens will put a lot of pressure on the abdominal wall. A lot of the extra space is taken up and the skin over the belly is therefore much tighter.

Hello. It is very difficult to say if she is or is not pregnant from these pictures, because if she is only carrying 1 or 2 kittens, then she would not be as big as one carrying 4-6 kittens. And if she is truly 68 days into a pregnancy, she is overdue. If she does have kittens you should be able to rub on her abdomen & feel some substantial "bumps" at this point in time. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

You might be able to feel this during very late term pregnancy, around day 55 or 60. But in many cases, you really can't feel much of anything from the outside - unborn kittens are very tiny and don't tend to move very vigorously, so if you can't feel anything, this doesn't necessarily mean that anything is wrong :)

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Mia does look like her abdomen is mildly distended, which may be due to pregnancy, or may be secondary to another underlying issue (fluid accumulation, etc.). If she is pregnant and her expected due date is in 2-3 weeks, an xray can verify pregnancy, as well as count how many kittens (if any) she is going to have (and sometimes kittens can be felt on physical examination). I would recommend having her evaluated by your regular veterinarian to determine if she is pregnant or if she has another underlying issue that needs to be addressed. Good luck!

There really is very little risk having a cat around during a normal, healthy pregnancy. Just wash your hands after petting her, & if you can have anyone else clean the litter box, this would be a reasonable precaution. Otherwise, good, common sense is all that is needed. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

The signs you are describing certainly could be consistent with pregnancy, but Mia could also be suffering from a false pregnancy. This is when a cat shows the signs of being pregnant, but actually is not. The only way to know for sure if she is pregnant or not is to have her seen by a vet. I recommend giving a vet a call today to set up an appointment for her. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

This is not at all uncommon and I wouldnot be concerned as long as she is still eating and not losing weight. Be sure to provide her with a calm hiding place for her to nest in, an overturned cardboard box turned away from the room can be very helpful to allow her to settle in