Dogs, cats and their humans who go to the Berkshire Veterinary Hospital for their annual heartworm checks and immunizations this year will find a comfortable and relaxed environment awaiting them.

The hospital’s reception area has been expanded to make it more open and airy, creating extra space for patients when they walk through the designated dog and cat entrances. Once inside, they wait in their respective canine and feline areas to see one of the hospital’s two veterinarians.

“We’re the only veterinarians in northern Fairfield County with separate entrances that we know of,” said John Roumanis, V.M.D. and pet cardiologist.

Dr. Roumanis owns and operates the veterinary practice at One Toddy Hill Road with his wife, Karin Harter, D.V.M. The renovated reception area is the second major renovation to the 5,000-square foot animal hospital in three years. Dr. Roumanis designed both additions with a computer aided drawing program.

In late 1999, Drs. Roumanis and Harter added a 2,300 square foot addition with 28 dog runs so animals can receive longer-term care at the hospital. The new runs supplement seven original ones. They are available to customers with pets special needs, such as diabetes and heart conditions requiring supervision and medication, and to those whose pets need observation or other care while their owners go on vacation.

The hospital handles many unusual and complicated surgeries since Dr. Roumanis is a pet cardiologist and receives referrals form other veterinarians. He recently corrected a genetic heart defect in four Newfoundland puppies from a single litter. The precision operation typically would only be conducted at a veterinary school or major animal surgery center.

It took Dr. Roumanis 10 years to complete the planning and building of the hospital addition and required overcoming many obstacles.  His father, Paul Roumanis, enthusiastically supported the concept and helped his son and daughter-in-law bring it to fruition.

Prior to his retirement, Paul Roumanis worked as an electrical engineer with General Electric and got in on the ground floor when computers first began to enter the corporate world. He became an expert in microcomputers, the precursors of the personal computers of today. He learned how to build and program them so that he could teach young engineers how to use them in their work.

He bought hobbyist kits and built his own microcomputers and then passed along equipment he no longer needed to his son, who developed an equally avid interest in them.

In addition to imparting a love of computers to his son, Paul Roumanis helped develop software programs to streamline operations at the animal hospital. He collaborated with Dr. Roumanis enhancing a checkbook program Dr. Roumanis wrote over twenty years ago, which eventually expanded into the sophisticated program that is now used in every aspect of the hospital.

When Paul Roumanis died of cancer in 1990, he left an inheritance to help fund the 1999 addition.

During the course of designing the project, Dr. Roumanis ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during karate class in 1995. The weekend he was scheduled for surgery, he blew out the cruciate ligament in the other knee.

The injuries required multiple knee surgeries and lengthy recovery periods. Dr. Roumanis spent this time designing software programs and finishing the auto CAD designs for the addition. As if that wasn’t enough, he injured both shoulders, one in karate and the other while chaperoning a Boy Scout canoe trip. These injuries also required surgery.

With perseverance and the help of a good builder – who is also his karate instructor – they finally broke ground in 1999.

Drs. Roumanis and Harter originally opened the animal hospital in December 1986 when their elder son, Branden, was a baby. Now 19, Branden is a freshman at Renssalear Polytechnic Institute, Dr. Roumanis’ alma mater. Branden is a computer science major, attending on a $60,000 merit scholarship he was awarded on the basis of academic achievement.

Their son, Christopher, 16, a sophomore at Newtown High School, also is following his parents’ footsteps including a love of computers and karate. He is a member of the high school’s Tech Club and has a Cho Dan Bo Blue Belt, which represents a black belt candidate.

Dr. Harter earned her D.V.M. degree at Michigan State University, where she enrolled in the veterinary program after three years of college. She always wanted to be a vet from the time she was in eighth grade and studied hard to make her dream a reality. In addition to her many responsibilities as a veterinarian and a parent, Dr. Harter has a Cho Dan or first degree Black Belt. She has been active in Boy Scouts and provided support to Branden while he was becoming an Eagle Scout, a status he attained in 2003.

Dr. Roumanis majored in chemistry as an undergraduate at Renssalaer, originally planning to become a nuclear scientist. But he switched gears following graduation in 1972, amid a recession and a decline in the space race. He applied to the veterinary program at the University of Pennsylvania and followed the successful completion of his V.M.D. with a 14-month internship at the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Massachusetts. He then completed a two-year residency in cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania for a grand total of 11 years of higher education.

He recently earned a Sam Dan, or third-degree black belt in karate. In addition to continuing to take class, he teaches karate and enjoys it for the social life it provides, in addition to the physical prowess.

The whole family has been involved in karate since 1992, when Branden took his first class through the Newtown Parks and Recreation Department program. Drs. Roumanis and Harter watched his classes with interest and got involved themselves. Dr. Harter began training in 1992 and Dr. Roumanis a year later.

“Karate helped both kids focus and concentrate and built self-confidence,” Dr. Harter said. “It’s not just physical exercise but a way of life and very family-oriented.”

Dr. Harter also continues with her karate classes. Both veterinarians frequently compete in tournaments.

How do they manage to get along while spending so much time together? They actually do many activities apart, they said. Dr. Harter sees routine appointments for checkups and vaccinations and Dr. Roumanis does most of the surgeries and sees cardiology referrals. They also go to different karate schools, a practice that evolved when their children were young, and they could not both leave them at the same time.

Drs. Roumanis and Harter enjoy interacting with their patients and their owners, an essential part of being a veterinarian, they said. “You can’t be a veterinarian if you don’t like to deal with people,” Dr. Harter said.

Dr. Roumanis added, “People often tell me they wish their physicians explained things as thoroughly as I do.”

The veterinarian’s office still might not be a dogs’ or cats’ favorite place to go, but they will find a comfortable and friendly welcome when they visit the Berkshire Veterinary Hospital.