Dr. Lisa Matagrano is the owner of Westmonte Animal Clinic and has been a small animal veterinarian since 2006, when she graduated from Ross University, School of Veterinary Medicine. She was born and raised in New Jersey, where she developed her love for animals growing up in a household that always had dogs as part of the family. Since the time she could walk, Dr. Matagrano was trying to follow animals of all sizes and species to learn more about them.
At the young age of 14, Dr. Matagrano began showing her own dog in obedience competitions through the American Kennel Club, and later went on to raise a puppy for The Seeing Eye, Inc. of Morristown, NJ. She was smitten with obedience training from the start and has since obtained five different titles on four different dogs. Dr. Matagrano is now exploring a new style of training with her German Shorthaired Pointer, Arlo, by putting his nose to work in a form of training called barn hunt.
After finishing high school and raising a seeing eye puppy, Dr. Matagrano attended Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey for her Bachelor's degree in Biology. While attending college, she volunteered a portion of her free time teaching obedience to pre-teen and teenage 4-H students to help them compete at dog shows as she had done in her teenage years. Upon completion of her Bachelor’s degree, Dr. Matagrano went on to obtain a Master’s degree in Cell and Molecular Biology at the State University of New York, Binghamton.
During graduate school, Dr. Matagrano married her husband Michael and found her pug Casey to start their family. After two years and a finished Master’s degree, the small family returned to New Jersey and Dr. Matagrano worked in the pharmaceutical industry in research. Although this was exciting work, after two years and the addition of a bearded Collie, Logan, Dr. Matagrano could not ignore her childhood dream and returned to school at Ross University, School of Veterinary Medicine where she graduated with her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2006.
Upon completion of her veterinary degree, Dr. Matagrano and her family moved to New York state. There they resided for three years before moving to Naples, Florida in 2009 and having twin girls in 2011. Ultimately, the Matagrano family moved to Altamonte Springs, where Dr. Matagrano began practicing at Westmonte Animal Clinic, and where she currently spends her days trying to help your pets live longer, healthier, happier lives.
