chthonya | 'an owl OR a cat OR a toad'

A comment that

straussmonster's (friendlocked) LJ started me wondering about the purpose of the students' animals.

I've always had a simmering confusion about why it doesn't matter which animal a student brought. Does it mean they are just pets - companion animals with no educational/magical purpose? It strikes me as an odd thing for the school to encourage: there's no indication in canon that the students have to do all the care for the animals themselves (otherwise we'd be seeing Harry having to go to owlery a lot more regularly than he does, which would surely impact on some of the Trio's extra-curricular activities), but if the responsibility falls to the school - well, that's a lot of animals to take on, even if it is all done by house-elves.

Also, owls and cats and toads are animals generally associated with magic - surely it can't be an accident that JKR uses those instead of canaries, dogs or mice? Or is she just giving it a 'witchy' feel without following it through?

And yet we see no sign in canon of the students learning any animal based magic. So are the animals kept for their useful properties - owls to carry the mail, phoenixes to heal and provide magical tail feathers - but the students don't seem to learn about the properties of domestic animals in 'Care of Magical Creatures', and as yet we have no indication of the use of cats (as opposed to Kneazles) or toads (except as potion ingredients). Why would someone want to take a toad to Hogwarts? Did cats and toads once have purposes that have since fallen out of use, making that list Hogwarts issues a relic of tradition, or is there more information still to come? (I think JKR hinted once that there is a significance to all the cats?)

And finally - why was Percy allowed to take an animal not on the list?

Speaking of pets, I have to take The Furry One to the vet for her annual check-up and booster vaccinations this month. Which means that I'm going to get another lecture about how she has to lose weight. I can't argue with that - but I'm not sure what to do about it. I don't overfeed her, she has unrestricted access to the outdoors, and she has to run up and down three flights of stairs every time she goes to the loo. But for some strange reason she has an aversion to wind and rain, so she much prefers the lounge to the lawn at this time of year. If only her check-up was in July!

Any suggestions for feline exercise/weight-loss programmes would be much appreciated. :)