Income Taxes - comprehensive tax (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, at Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate, Percent		21.00%	35.00%
Interest held by parent	62.80%		61.50%
PetIQ, LLC (Opco)
cash distributions	$ 540
Holdco
Interest held by parent	56.70%

Percentage of domestic federal statutory tax rate applicable to pretax income (loss).

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 6.I)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34349781&loc=d3e330036-122817

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32698-109319

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