•Performed proximate analysis assays to determine chemical composition of dietary items of wild lemurs.•Surveyed US institutions housing black-and-white ruffed lemurs to collect captive diet information.•Utilized nutritional analysis software to estimate chemical composition of captive lemur diets.•Formulated lemur diets based on guidelines provided by zoos.•Fed dogs and cats for trials of metabolic effects and digestibility of raw-meat diets and novel ingredients.•Collected blood samples from cats and dogs via venipuncture and catheter.•Collected fecal and urine samples from cats utilizing metabolism cages.•Collected, scored, and processed cat fecal samples for microbiome characterization and other analyses at the Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition.