Segment Reporting (Summary Of Segment Performance) (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of business segments | segment									3
Revenue	$ 399,685	$ 406,387	$ 413,343	$ 382,477	$ 351,959	$ 383,523	$ 390,122	$ 360,203	$ 1,601,892	$ 1,485,807	$ 1,377,058
Income (loss) from operations	66,911	71,895	88,303	72,803	34,801	72,189	83,219	70,046	299,912	260,255	266,762
Interest expense, net									(26,771)	(13,700)	(3,501)
Income before provision for income taxes									273,141	246,555	263,261
Provision for income taxes									81,006	64,604	75,467
Net income									192,135	181,951	187,794
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest									57	45	(6)
Net income attributable to IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. stockholders	$ 44,349	$ 44,223	$ 56,912	$ 46,594	$ 25,961	$ 52,142	$ 57,218	$ 46,585	192,078	181,906	187,800
Depreciation and amortization									68,956	58,888	54,596
Expenditures for long-lived assets									82,921	60,523	77,612
CAG/LPD Segment Transition [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue										13,800	9,900
CAG Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									1,356,287	1,223,064	1,140,292
Income (loss) from operations									231,642	203,536	212,558
Depreciation and amortization									60,715	48,740	45,079
Expenditures for long-lived assets									69,371	49,270	66,134
Water Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									96,884	94,725	87,959
Income (loss) from operations									44,584	39,262	37,321
Depreciation and amortization									3,188	2,553	2,470
Expenditures for long-lived assets									2,781	2,499	3,254
LPD Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									127,143	141,179	123,688
Income (loss) from operations									24,397	33,788	20,246
Depreciation and amortization									4,367	5,144	4,906
Expenditures for long-lived assets									9,110	4,025	5,569
Other Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									21,578	26,839	25,119
Income (loss) from operations									156	2,479	2,405
Depreciation and amortization									686	2,451	2,141
Expenditures for long-lived assets									1,659	4,729	2,655
Unallocated Amounts [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Income (loss) from operations									$ (867)	$ (18,810)	$ (5,768)