Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2013	Jul. 31, 2012	Jul. 31, 2013	Jul. 31, 2012
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 411,993	$ 378,186	$ 1,175,873	$ 1,048,835
Cost of sales	143,719	138,089	412,923	377,589
Gross profit	268,274	240,097	762,950	671,246
Selling, general and administrative expense	152,141	143,830	453,487	412,540
Research and development expense	14,865	13,156	43,008	37,611
Amortization of intangibles	7,660	5,861	22,553	16,677
Operating income	93,608	77,250	243,902	204,418
Interest expense	2,258	2,315	7,268	9,049
Gain on insurance proceeds	0	0	14,084	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0	1,404	0	1,404
Other (expense) income, net	(86)	(2,144)	461	(1,152)
Income before income taxes	91,264	71,387	251,179	192,813
Provision for income taxes	2,072	4,433	11,585	16,315
Net income	89,192	66,954	239,594	176,498
Less: income attributable to noncontrolling interests	241	79	840	79
Net income attributable to Cooper stockholders	$ 88,951	$ 66,875	$ 238,754	$ 176,419
Earnings per share attributable to Cooper stockholders - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 1.82	$ 1.39	$ 4.91	$ 3.69
Earnings per share attributable to Cooper stockholders - diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 1.79	$ 1.36	$ 4.81	$ 3.60
Number of shares used to compute earnings per share:
Basic (in shares)	48,791	48,110	48,588	47,832
Diluted (in shares)	49,754	49,302	49,623	49,069