When Glen Schallman adopted Blake, a one-year-old black cat from a Petsmart, he never imagined that Blake would end up saving his life. But that’s exactly what Blake does, acting as a service animal by biting Schallman’s toes whenever he has a seizure while asleep.
Schallman has three different brain diseases which result in seizures. These seizures are particularly dangerous if they occur while Schallman is asleep. But without any training, Blake seemed to sense this danger and took to biting Schallman’s toes to wake him up when a seizure does occur.
Typically, service animals receive special training in order to learn how best to help their owners. This training can take years, and the animals are carefully selected for their temperaments, physical abilities, and other characteristics. But none of that stops Blake, who has figured out how to help Schallman all on his own. Schallman credits Blake with his life, and Blake has even developed the ability to sense when seizures are about to come on.
Clearly, Blake and Schallman are a match meant to be.
