Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015	Jul. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 514,726	$ 461,678	$ 1,448,160	$ 1,341,524
Cost of sales	198,085	188,791	571,057	524,570
Gross profit	316,641	272,887	877,103	816,954
Selling, general and administrative expense	182,403	191,783	533,666	532,901
Research and development expense	16,013	18,298	47,470	51,229
Amortization of intangibles	15,553	12,495	46,068	38,406
Operating income	102,672	50,311	249,899	194,418
Interest expense	7,983	4,690	20,869	13,323
Other expense, net	1,274	1,020	2,247	2,037
Income before income taxes	93,415	44,601	226,783	179,058
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	5,172	(642)	12,344	10,929
Net income	88,243	45,243	214,439	168,129
Less: net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	315	292	1,030	1,285
Net income attributable to Cooper stockholders	$ 87,928	$ 44,951	$ 213,409	$ 166,844
Earnings per share attributable to Cooper stockholders - basic	$ 1.81	$ 0.92	$ 4.41	$ 3.45
Earnings per share attributable to Cooper stockholders - diluted	$ 1.79	$ 0.91	$ 4.36	$ 3.39
Number of shares used to compute earnings per share:
Basic	48,578	48,600	48,436	48,421
Diluted	49,048	49,244	48,902	49,157