Acquisitions (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 Hospital	Dec. 31, 2012 Hospital	Dec. 31, 2011 Hospital
Summary of acquisitions of animal hospitals and laboratories
Number of Properties Sold Closed or Merged	(18)	(6)	(11)
Acquisitions relocated into our existing animal hospitals	(2)	(6)	(3)
Total animal hospitals	0	68	13
Total laboratories	1	2	3
Animal Hospital [Member]
Summary of acquisitions of animal hospitals and laboratories
Number of hospitals created	0	1	0
AVC [Member]
Summary of acquisitions of animal hospitals and laboratories
Number of Businesses Acquired	0	44	0
Acquisitions, excluding BrightHeart and Pet DRx [Member]
Summary of acquisitions of animal hospitals and laboratories
Number of Businesses Acquired	20	35	18
BrightHeart [Member]
Summary of acquisitions of animal hospitals and laboratories
Number of Businesses Acquired	0	0	9
Acquisitions [Member]
Summary of acquisitions of animal hospitals and laboratories
Number of Businesses Acquired	1	1	1
Acquisitions relocated into our existing laboratories [Member]
Summary of acquisitions of animal hospitals and laboratories
Number of Acquired Laboratories Relocated To Existing Laboratories	0	(1)	0
New facilities [Member]
Summary of acquisitions of animal hospitals and laboratories
Number of Laboratories Created	0	2	2