Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 2,133,675	$ 1,918,483	$ 1,803,369
Direct costs	1,623,604	1,473,842	1,393,989
Gross profit	510,071	444,641	409,380
Selling, general and administrative expense	183,995	171,506	157,911
Impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets	0	27,019	0
Business interruption insurance gain	(4,523)	0	0
Net loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	829	(1,152)	2,455
Operating income (loss)	329,770	247,268	249,014
Interest expense	21,208	17,951	18,928
Interest income	(132)	(172)	(379)
Debt retirement costs	0	1,709	0
Other expense	359	219	90
Gain on sale of business	(43,306)	0	0
Income before provision for income taxes	351,641	227,561	230,375
Provision for income taxes	135,543	86,878	87,453
Net income	216,098	140,683	142,922
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	5,049	5,245	5,411
Net income attributable to VCA Inc.	$ 211,049	$ 135,438	$ 137,511
Basic earnings per share (USD per share)	$ 2.59	$ 1.56	$ 1.55
Diluted earnings per share (USD per share)	$ 2.56	$ 1.54	$ 1.53
Weighted-average shares outstanding for basic earnings per share	81,443	86,656	88,621
Weighted-average shares outstanding for diluted earnings per share	82,414	87,825	89,663