The risk you are actually managing
Raw meat, whether it is your housemate's cat eating a raw diet or raw ingredients handled in a shared kitchen, can carry bacteria such as salmonella and listeria that healthy adult cats often tolerate better than the people around them do. The hygiene problem is rarely the eating itself — it is everything the meat and the cat touch afterwards: the bowl rim, the mat, the floor around the station where paws track residue, the sponge used on the bowl and then on human plates, and the cat's own face and paws, which she will groom and then press against your pillow. A good station routine is therefore about containment and cleaning, keeping raw contact confined to a small, defined, washable zone that gets properly cleaned after every single meal.
Setting up a station that can truly be cleaned
Choose one spot for raw meals and keep it fixed — ideally on hard flooring, never carpet — with a large washable mat underneath that catches drips and can go through a hot wash. Use stainless steel or ceramic bowls, which scrub clean without the scratches that plastic develops and that shelter bacteria, and keep a dedicated set for the raw-fed cat rather than rotating them with other pets' dishes. Serve only what will be eaten at that sitting. Raw food left standing at room temperature is the highest-risk object in the arrangement, so lift and dispose of leftovers promptly rather than letting the cat graze over hours, and return stored raw food to a sealed container in the fridge, separated from ready-to-eat human food, with frozen portions thawed in the fridge rather than on the counter.
The after-meal routine, in order
The cleaning sequence matters more than any special product. First, clear the food and shake debris from the mat into a bin. Wash bowls, utensils, and any prep boards in hot soapy water — a dishwasher's hot cycle is ideal — using a brush or cloth kept only for pet dishes, never the sponge that wipes human counters. Wipe the mat and the floor area around the station, then wash your hands thoroughly with soap, including after handling the cat's face or paws right after a meal. If the cat is raw-fed, be thoughtful about close contact in the hour after eating: a face washed by her own grooming is cleaner than one fresh from the bowl, and young children, elderly relatives, and anyone with a weakened immune system should not be nuzzled by a cat mid-meal or handle her bowls at all.
Making shared-house rules stick
Most hygiene failures in a shared home are disagreements in disguise: one person thinks a quick rinse is enough, the other expects a full wash, and the cat's bowls quietly migrate between standards. Agree the rules explicitly and keep them short — station stays put, leftovers lifted, everything washed hot after every meal, hands washed, pet sponge stays pet-only. Store the raw food supply in one labelled container so nobody mistakes it for human ingredients, and keep prep on one board that is never used for salads or sandwiches. If your housemate's cat and your cat eat different diets, feed them in separate places so bowls, leftovers, and cleaning never blur, and so your cat is not finishing raw scraps from a diet you did not choose for her.
Putting the routine where the feeder sees it
A cleaning routine only protects the household when it happens on the tired evenings as reliably as on the keen ones, which is why it helps to attach the steps to the feeding task itself rather than to a house-rules chat that scrolls away. Listing serve, lift leftovers, hot-wash bowls, wipe station, wash hands as the closing steps of each raw meal turns hygiene into a checklist nobody has to remember. KinsLe Care Teams supports exactly that habit, holding the feeding and cleaning steps together on the cat's profile so whoever serves the meal — you, your housemate, or a sitter — completes the same routine and marks it done for the next person to see.