The Company (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) day_care_location province Laboratory Hospital State	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) day_care_location province Laboratory segment Hospital State	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
The Company (Textual) [Abstract]
Number of operating segments | segment		5
Number of hospitals operated | Hospital	682	682
Number of states in which hospitals are operated | State	41	41
Number of Canadian Provinces | province	4	4
Number of states in which the company operate a full-service veterinary diagnostic laboratory network | State	50	50
Number of laboratories operated | Laboratory	60	60
Gain on sale of business | $	$ 43,300	$ 43,306	$ 0	$ 0
Number of Canadian Provinces in which entity operates | province	4	4
Camp Bow Wow [Member]
The Company (Textual) [Abstract]
Number of dog boarding and daycare service locations operated | day_care_location	126	126
Number of states in which the entity operates | State	34	34
Number of Canadian Provinces in which entity operates | province	1	1
Vetstreet [Member]
The Company (Textual) [Abstract]
Gain on sale of business | $		$ 43,300
Vetstreet [Member]
The Company (Textual) [Abstract]
Percentage of cumulative ownership	19.90%	19.90%