Selected Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Unaudited quarterly results
Revenue	$ 533,720	$ 551,717	$ 548,785	$ 449,453	$ 479,927	$ 499,577	$ 489,472	$ 449,507	$ 2,133,675	$ 1,918,483	$ 1,803,369
Gross profit	117,696	137,666	140,847	113,862	99,018	123,757	120,415	101,451	510,071	444,641	409,380
Operating income	66,381	97,079	97,181	69,129	52,654	53,476	79,906	61,232	329,770	247,268	249,014
Net income	64,154	56,468	55,923	39,553	29,909	28,951	46,908	34,915	216,098	140,683	142,922
Net income attributable to VCA Inc.	$ 63,595	$ 54,854	$ 54,299	$ 38,301	$ 28,359	$ 27,452	$ 45,584	$ 34,043	$ 211,049	$ 135,438	$ 137,511
Basic earnings per common share (USD per share)	$ 0.79	$ 0.68	$ 0.66	$ 0.47	$ 0.34	$ 0.32	$ 0.52	$ 0.39	$ 2.59	$ 1.56	$ 1.55
Diluted earnings per common share (USD per share)	$ 0.78	$ 0.67	$ 0.65	$ 0.46	$ 0.33	$ 0.31	$ 0.51	$ 0.38	$ 2.56	$ 1.54	$ 1.53
Gain on sale of business	$ 43,300								$ 43,306	$ 0	$ 0
Gain on sale of business, net of tax	$ 26,400
Gain on sale of business per share, diluted	$ 0.32
Business interruption proceeds		$ 4,500							4,523	0	0
Business interruption proceeds, net of tax		$ 2,800
Business interruption proceeds per share, diluted		$ 0.03
Impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets						$ 27,000			$ 0	$ 27,019	$ 0
Asset impairment charges (in USD per share)						$ 0.20
Debt related expense						$ 1,700
Debt related expense (in USD per share)						$ 0.01