CocoTherapy Founders

Charisa Antigua, BS, Cert.CAN
Carmina O'Connor, BS, Cert.CAN


People say we
 know a thing or two about coconut oil. Coming from a coconut producing family, coconuts have been a big part of our family for three generations. When we were little girls, we remember watching our grandma make coconut oil in her small kitchen. She always used the freshest coconuts sourced and harvested from her family’s coconut farmShe took her time as she skillfully separated the coconut water and carved out the coconut meat. It was a tedious process but she didn't cut corners. To her, making the purest, tastiest, most nutritious oil was a labor of love. 

Thanks to our grandma, we grew up with a knowledge and understanding of the potent healing power of coconut oil, and the meticulous attention to detail that goes into making therapeutic-grade coconut oil.  

Through personal experience with our beloved Yorkie, Violet, we quickly learned that there were differences in coconut oil and how it can help animals with chronic allergies and other health issues. Unable to find a therapeutic-grade oil that matched the quality we'd grown up with, we founded CocoTherapy in 2009. Our vision from the beginning was to create the very best coconut oil for dogs, cats, and birds, and coconut-based products that are highly effective at treating chronic and acute health issues in pets. 

Since the launch of CocoTherapy in 2009, we have made it our mission to teach others about therapeutic-grade coconut oil and have seen how it has helped countless animals around the world. In 2014, we worked with naturopathic doctor and lipid expert, Dr. Bruce Fife ND, to provide data and stories for his book, “Coconut Therapy for Pets”, which discusses amazing ways coconut oil has helped numerous animals.  

About Our Coconuts and Coconut Oil

We realize that there are other brands of coconut oil available, but we also know that the quality of coconut oil varies greatly. The various grades of coconut oil are determined by the type and variety of the coconuts used, harvest and processing times, and the many different ways to produce and manufacture coconut oil. We only use coconuts harvested from our family farm, ensuring that the coconuts we use are 100% organic and non-GMO coconuts, grown in rich organic volcanic soil, and tree-ripened for 12 months. We can also assure you that our coconuts are ethically harvested by people and not monkeys.  Because our pets are important members of our family, we wanted to provide them with the very best coconut oil available, manufactured in the absolute highest standard in the industry in our family-owned facility. Learn more about Fake Coconut Oil and how CocoTherapy is different 

We promise you that CocoTherapy© Organic Virgin Coconut Oil and Organic Coconut Chips (our dehydrated coconut for dogs, cats, and birds) are the best available coconut oil for dog, cats, and birds and treat available for you and your pets. Not only are they USDA Certified Organic, they are also Non-GMO Verified.  CocoTherapy© is 100% natural and human-grade, and you can be confident that you are giving your pets the best coconut oil and coconut chips available. CocoTherapy© is the Number #1 brand recommended by integrative veterinarians in the USA.   

The philosophy of our grandmother is the foundation of every CocoTherapy product we produce today.

Believe in miracles!

Charisa Antigua, Cert.CAN
CEO & Chief Science Officer
Carmina O’Connor, Cert.CAN
President, Co-Founder


CocoTherapy Family Facility

Personal Stories 

Aside from taking virgin coconut oil ourselves, we have always given it to our pets on a regular basis. We have numerous personal experiences of how coconut oil has helped our allergic, hypothyroid, or overweight pets. Some of our stories: 

  • Violet is our Yorkie who inspired us to start CocoTherapy. Born with allergies, we thought she was doomed to take Prednisone for the rest her life. Under the care of wonderful holistic vet, Dr. Karen Beckerwe gave her our organic virgin coconut oil and were able to wean her off prednisone. For the remainder of her life, Violet never went on prednisone again and had a full, long beautiful coat. Learn more about Coconut Oil and Allergies 
  • One of our kitty cats, Amanda, a beautiful senior Ragdoll, loved licking coconut oil from our hands and chomping on coconut chips as a snack. Towards the end of her years, Amanda developed kidney disease and was hyperthyroid, and was under the care of a well-known kidney vet in Illinois and a holistic vet. Since beginning her conventional kidney care and taking coconut oil, her over-all kidney function increased from 18% to 20.8% --- much to the delight of her kidney vet, who said that this was not a typical occurrence for kidney function to actually increase. Until the end of Amanda's quality-filled life, coconut oil helped support her natural aging process. Learn more about Coconut Oil and Thyroid Health. 
  • Our dog Maggie was diagnosed with "Borderline Hypothyroidism", by two separate vets, on two separate occasions. "Borderline Hypothyroidism", also called "Sub-Clinical" or "Low-Normal" Hypothyroidism, is a condition where the dog is definitely suffering from a weakened Thyroid system, but it is not yet severe enough to register out of the "Normal Range". In borderline cases, the conventional treatment is to provide the pet with a small thyroid supplement for 30 days just to see if it improves. However, there are risks in this approach. If thyroxine levels become too high, other body organs can be damaged. As we were not prepared to take this risk, and with the advice of a holistic vet, we added coconut oil to Maggie's diet, as coconut oil is known to help support healthy thyroid function. We then had Dr. Jean Dodds, the foremost authority on Canine Hypothyroidism at "Hemopet", run her thyroid tests. Maggie's result showed that she no longer had Borderline Hypothyroidism. Maggie lived a normal, healthy life to the end of her days. Learn more about Coconut Oil and Thyroid Health.
  •  Our Chihuahua Lucy was 15 when she started exhibiting signs of canine cognitive dementia. She would stare at walls, and seemingly barked at nothing.  Aside from this, she also had luxating patella, and as she reached her senior years, was stiff with arthritis.  Coconut oil has been proven to alleviate signs of cognitive dementia in dogs, as ketones from coconut oil can cross the blood-brain barrier, and provide cellular energy to the brain, thus feeding the brain. When added to Lucy’s diet, it improved her awareness and she seemed more alert and more cognizant of her surroundings.  It also helped increase her mobility and ease her discomfort in her joints, as coconut oil is a powerful anti-inflammatory. By simply adding coconut oil to her diet, Lucy seemed to regain her youth back, allowing her to live out her senior years to the fullest. Learn more about Coconut Oil and Brain Health. 
  • Our Yorkie, Camille developed Protein Losing Enteropathy and kidney disease at 13 years old. Her vet prescribed diet with minimal fat and a sufficient amount of high-quality protein to help treat the disorder. We gave her our TriPlex MCT-3 Oil to combat weight loss and malnourishment, and provide the needed energy from fat. By supporting Camille’s GI and providing a fresh, all-natural, highly digestible diet, Charisa was able to manage Camille’s PLE with excellent results. She lived to 15 years with very minor complications from both PLE and kidney disease. Learn more about Coconut Oil and PLE and gastrointestinal disorders in pets. 
  • Our kitty Ollie is a senior cat, 18 ½ years old.  When he was 15, he started vomiting daily and was losing weight.  He was diagnosed with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis.  Ollie was placed on a low-fat diet, as he could not tolerate fats.  Higher fat protein or even fish oil made him vomit. He also had an inflamed GI.  We added virgin coconut oil to Ollie’s diet to supply the much-needed cellular energy from fat, and to help him absorb fat-soluble vitamins and nutrients.  Since coconut oil does not stress the pancreas and has no need for pancreatic lipase and biliary acids to be metabolized by the body, it is highly tolerated by animals with pancreatitis and animals with lipid disorders.  Today, Ollie’s pancreatitis and GI issues are under control, and is thriving with virgin coconut oil as part of his daily health protocol. In addition to this, Ollie’s pancreatitis has not progressed to triaditis (a syndrome concurrent to pancreatitis, IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) and cholangitis (inflammation of the bile duct system). We believe that coconut oil has help to prevent the onset of triaditis, as it is helps support a healthy immune system, has powerful antibacterial properties, and helps mitigate inflammation. Learn more about Coconut Oil and Pancreatitis, and Coconut Oil and Cats 

Read other stories from other pet parents to see how CocoTherapy© has helped their animals.