Condensed, Consolidated Income Statements (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue		$ 551,717	$ 499,577	$ 1,599,955	$ 1,438,556
Direct costs		414,051	375,820	1,207,580	1,092,933
Gross profit		137,666	123,757	392,375	345,623
Selling, general and administrative expense		44,860	42,792	133,743	124,163
Impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets		0	27,019	0	27,019
Business interruption insurance gain		(4,523)	0	(4,523)	0
Net loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets		250	470	(234)	(173)
Operating income (loss)		97,079	53,476	263,389	194,614
Interest expense, net		5,455	4,367	15,396	12,564
Debt retirement costs		0	1,709	0	1,709
Other expense		59	188	88	178
Income before provision for income taxes		91,565	47,212	247,905	180,163
Provision for income taxes		35,097	18,261	95,961	69,389
Net income	[1]	56,468	28,951	151,944	110,774
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests		1,614	1,499	4,490	3,695
Net income attributable to VCA Inc.		$ 54,854	$ 27,452	$ 147,454	$ 107,079
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.68	$ 0.32	$ 1.80	$ 1.22
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.67	$ 0.31	$ 1.78	$ 1.21
Weighted-average shares outstanding for basic earnings per share (in shares)		80,815	86,274	81,700	87,543
Weighted-average shares outstanding for diluted earnings per share (in shares)		81,795	87,360	82,744	88,665

[1] Includes approximately $2.5 million and $1.9 million of net income related to redeemable and mandatorily redeemable noncontrolling interests for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively.