Acquisition (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended						0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Animal Hospital [Member] Hospital		Sep. 30, 2013 Animal Hospital [Member] Hospital		Sep. 30, 2014 Laboratories Acquisitions [Member] Laboratory	Sep. 30, 2013 Laboratories Acquisitions [Member] Laboratory	Aug. 15, 2014 D.O.G. Enterprises, LLC [Member]	Aug. 15, 2014 D.O.G. Enterprises, LLC [Member]		Sep. 30, 2014 Camp Bow Wow [Member] State province day_care_location	Sep. 30, 2014 Camp Bow Wow [Member] Provinces
Business Acquisition Summary Of Acquired Properties [Line Items]
Acquisitions				23		14		0	1
Acquisitions, merged				(4)		(2)
Created								3	0
Sold, closed or merged				(6)		(15)
Net increase (decrease) in Animal Hospitals				13		(3)
Net increase in Laboratories								3	1
Consideration:
Cash, net of cash acquired	$ 62,122,000	$ 39,640,000		$ 46,948,000		$ 39,640,000				$ 15,174,000
Assumed debt				4,160,000		2,360,000					323,000
Holdbacks				1,400,000		892,000					1,500,000
Earn-out contingent consideration	3,700,000		2,200,000	721,000		1,120,000					1,810,000
Fair value of total consideration transferred				53,229,000		44,012,000				18,807,000
Allocation of the Purchase Price:
Tangible assets				2,317,000		13,494,000					942,000
Identifiable intangible assets				8,176,000		12,774,000					12,080,000
Goodwill	1,368,230,000		1,330,917,000	46,502,000	[1]	32,557,000	[1]				6,669,000	[2]
Other liabilities assumed				(47,000)		(9,407,000)					(884,000)
Fair value of assets acquired				56,948,000		49,418,000
Noncontrolling interest				(1,705,000)		(5,406,000)
Fair value of pre-existing investment	(2,014,000)	0		(2,014,000)		0
Total				53,229,000		44,012,000					18,807,000
Goodwill recorded for acquisitions, fully deductible for income tax purposes				36,600,000		12,900,000
Cash payments for real estate	3,293,000	1,208,000
Payments to acquire businesses, including holdbacks										17,000,000
Maximum additional consideration to be earned	$ 5,200,000										$ 3,000,000
Additional consideration earned, period										3 years
Number of dog boarding and day care service locations operated (more than)													125	125
Number of states in which the entity operates													37	1
Number of Canadian Provinces in which entity operates													1	1

[1] We expect that $36.6 million and $12.9 million of the goodwill recorded for these acquisitions, as of September 30, 2014 and 2013, respectively, will be fully deductible for income tax purposes.

[2] As of September 30, 2014, we expect that the full amount of goodwill recorded for this acquisition will be deductible for income tax purposes. The purchase price allocation for Camp Bow Wow is preliminary and is pending the completion of tangible and intangible asset valuations.