Central Garden & Pet Company Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Acquisitions and Investments in Joint Ventures - Additional Information (Detail)

Acquisitions and Investments in Joint Ventures - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Thousands				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 01, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2014 USD ($) JointVenture	Sep. 24, 2016 USD ($) JointVenture	Sep. 24, 2016 USD ($) JointVenture	Sep. 26, 2015 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 27, 2014 USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2013 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Excess of purchase price included in goodwill				$ 231,385	$ 231,385	$ 209,089		$ 208,233		$ 205,756
Percentage of equity interest in joint venture				50.00%	50.00%
Number of joint ventures \| JointVenture				2	2
Purishield LLC and Ceregenin LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Investment in joint ventures			$ 16,000
Percentage of equity interest in joint venture			50.00%
Number of joint ventures \| JointVenture			2
Hydro Organics Wholesale Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire businesses		$ 7,800
Purchase price in excess of fair value		10,700
Excess of purchase price included in intangible assets		5,200
Excess of purchase price included in goodwill		5,500
Hydro Organics Wholesale Inc [Member] \| Future Performance [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated contingent future performance-based payments		$ 2,600
DMC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price in excess of fair value	$ 33,800
Excess of purchase price included in intangible assets	18,700
Excess of purchase price included in goodwill	15,058
Cost of acquisition	$ 61,000
DMC and IMS Trading Corp [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Impact of acquisitions on the Company's operating income					$ 10,600
IMS Trading Corp [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Excess of purchase price included in intangible assets							$ 4,510
Excess of purchase price included in goodwill				$ 1,400	$ 1,400		1,365
Purchase of certain assets							$ 23,200
Envincio, LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Excess of purchase price included in intangible assets									$ 11,450
Excess of purchase price included in goodwill									3,333
Purchase of certain assets									$ 20,300
Other Nonoperating Income (Expense) [Member] \| Purishield LLC and Ceregenin LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Non-cash impairment charge				$ 16,600