Condensed, Consolidated Income Statements (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended
		Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue		$ 563,439	$ 499,453
Direct costs		426,659	385,591
Gross profit		136,780	113,862
Selling, general and administrative expense		50,128	44,398
Net loss on sale or disposal of assets		563	335
Operating income (loss)		86,089	69,129
Interest expense, net		7,095	4,837
Other (income) expense		(264)	66
Income before provision for income taxes		79,258	64,226
Provision for income taxes		31,536	24,673
Net income	[1]	47,722	39,553
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests		1,495	1,252
Net income attributable to VCA Inc.		$ 46,227	$ 38,301
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.57	$ 0.47
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.57	$ 0.46
Weighted-average shares outstanding for basic earnings per share (in shares)		80,776	82,347
Weighted-average shares outstanding for diluted earnings per share (in shares)		81,523	83,373

[1] Includes approximately $1.0 million and $0.8 million of net income related to redeemable and mandatorily redeemable noncontrolling interests for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.