Feeding a natural diet : New to Feeding Raw

My cat Aggie has loose stool issues so my vet has put her on a new diet, feeding her Nature's Variety. I am to feed her the raw Medallions, rabbit flavor. I also give her kibble during the day.
I spoke with the lady at the pet store before I bought my new food and she said since Aggie will also be eating kibble, she suggested I only give her the raw medallion in the evening and canned in the morning.
Tonite was the first time I gave her the raw. She loved it and I was really surprised. She dove right in!
But I noticed she was dragging it out of her bowl. This cant be safe, since it is raw, correct? What can I do to keep her from doing this? She would grab a chunk and try to run across the room with it to eat. I had to run after her and hold her matt and bowl under her.
I would not mind seeing if my other cats would like it, but I cant sit and watch 5 cats eat to make sure they dont drag it around the house.
Any suggestions, or am I missing something?

Why isn't it safe?

There's a lot of fear around feeding raw. But I've been feeding 4 cats raw (ages 5, 8, 8 & 18.5) for over 6 years and they've dragged it around, eaten hours-old raw, etc., and everyone is just fine.

BTW, I also started because of Bailey's inflammatory bowel disease. I was nervous about killing my cats with raw. But they're all fine and Bailey's had no symptoms since the switch.

I dont know..I just know when you handle raw meat you need to wash the area down ( like your counters and cutting boards ) with soap and hot water...or some kind of cleaning spray. The girl I talked to at the store said after I was done handling it, to make sure I washed my hands good and washed her bowl out with soap and hot water. So I assumed it would not be safe for the raw food to sit on the carpet or bed she eats on. Am I wrong? She also told me I cant let it sit longer than 6 minutes if she does not eat it.
I know it is safe for them to eat it..that is not a concern..I would love to switch all my cats over and have them all eat it! I just dont know if it is OK to be dragged around the house.

I don't know the answer to your question but I just wanted to comment on what a great vet you must have. Most of them push that nasty Science Diet. This is the first time I've heard of a vet who suggested not only feeding something other than SD, but feeding raw. Bravo to your vet! Good luck with the new diet.

Oh..she pushes Science Diet!! That is why I was surprised when she called me and told me to try this new diet! But it showed me she was doing her research on Aggie's problem and she also learned the SD she recommended months earlier was not working..so I am happy for that. I have been feeding my cats natural food for a couple of years and it is hard having a vet that loves SD. This is actually a new vet for me. But I was just telling my husband that maybe since she did research on this problem and learned about this natural diet, that maybe she will continue to start looking more into it and start recommending it for other things and finally realize SD is not that great!

I dont know..I just know when you handle raw meat you need to wash the area down ( like your counters and cutting boards ) with soap and hot water...or some kind of cleaning spray. The girl I talked to at the store said after I was done handling it, to make sure I washed my hands good and washed her bowl out with soap and hot water. So I assumed it would not be safe for the raw food to sit on the carpet or bed she eats on. Am I wrong? She also told me I cant let it sit longer than 6 minutes if she does not eat it.
I know it is safe for them to eat it..that is not a concern..I would love to switch all my cats over and have them all eat it! I just dont know if it is OK to be dragged around the house.

Well, I don't eat animal products so I don't think much about handling meat regarding it touching the cutting board and other dishes and such. But I think I see what you mean.

The girl at the store sounds like she is giving the most conservative, cautious, CYA possible advice. There are risks with raw, but I think the risks with processed & dry foods (esp. Science Diet!!) are much worse. The raw feeders I know don't worry about six minutes or about washing down the floor any more than we would if we were feeding "cooked" cat food.

The thing about food sitting on the carpet or bed is that it could soak in and get rotten with bacteria, so I tend to agree that those areas should not have food on them. I don't know that anyone would actually get sick from it, except possibly a human or other non-predator (at least non-biologically-based predator).

Six minutes? We leave out the raw food at night and then go to bed. Sometimes it's gone in the morning and sometimes I see them nibbling. Oy, the things cats eat! The transit time through their digestive tracts is lickety-split fast compared with humans looong, slooooowwww tracts designed to break down & extract nutrients from carbs and soluble fiber and such. There isn't much time for bacteria to take hold and multiply.

Our cats also drag their food around the floor. But then they also lick each others' butts (sorry, but it's true!) and eat rodents they find in the cat pen as well as foam packing peanuts, grass & weeds, worms, and bits of dirt and carpet fuzz.

As I say, I was much more cautious and worried when I first started raw feeding them. But it's been six years and four cats are radiantly healthy. I no longer worry. But I also don't advise casual or thoughtless behavior. Everyone finds their own comfort level for their own babies I think.

The thing about food sitting on the carpet or bed is that it could soak in and get rotten with bacteria, so I tend to agree that those areas should not have food on them. I don't know that anyone would actually get sick from it, except possibly a human or other non-predator (at least non-biologically-based predator).

This is the only part that worries me.
I dont care if they drag it around and get something on it and eat it..Marlee eats every single thing she sees on the floor...no telling what she has in her stomach..but I just dont want the bacteria from the raw to sit if they drag it around.
Maybe I am just looking to deep into it..yesterday was the first time I have ever given it to anyone, so it is all new to me. I asked the poor girl at the store tons of questions, she must have thought I was crazy. I had no idea what it was going to look like and was just going by the picture on the website...so I asked if I could cut it up into pieces!!
Once I saw what it really looked like, I felt silly.
Oh well..just learning here!

Oh well..just learning here!

Oh, totally! I think it's great that you're asking all these questions.

And don't just take it from me or from the woman at the store. Here's the Feline Future Diet Yahoo Group, a longtime (non-Network) community for parents of raw-fed cats. The members' wealth of experience and knowledge is marvelous and they truly care about helping others as well as getting the info they want.

You could join and just keep asking questions, read the archives, check out the files & links, and see if that helps you feel more comfortable with your very new and different choice for your baby (and maybe babies).