Dr. Cooper was born in Turlock and raised on a dairy farm in Hickman, California. She received her bachelor's degree in animal science from the University of California, Davis, in 1976. She continued her education at UC Davis, where she earned her doctor of veterinary medicine in 1980.

Dr. Cooper served on the faculty of the Behavior Science department at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital at UC Davis from 1980 to 2002. She passed her specialty board exams for the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists in 1995, the first year they were given.

Dr. Cooper's services have been available at VCA Loomis Basin Veterinary Clinic since 2004. She has special interests in veterinary behavior and the human-animal bond. She and her husband, Phil, have two sons, Ben and Nick. Their family also includes Rocky, a one-eyed pirate cat. In her time away from veterinary medicine, Dr. Cooper enjoys quilting, singing in two choirs, and reading what she calls escape literature.