I'm not really copying Raven, but this so happens to be true:

1. The Raven.
Mostly because it is inconspicuous but can go everywhere: never hunted, always familiar, yet can travel quickly and survive in almost any climate. They are intelligent and regal in appearance, comfortable together in large groups or alone, fierce and fearless warriors (I've been divebombed by one for staring at it too long), and ready for anything. As Raven noted, they are mentioned in Scripture almost always positively (as opposed to dogs, which are almost always mentioned negatively). And they fly. Did I mention that?

2. The Cat.
Inconspicuous, common, and well-traveled like the Raven: good for getting into and out of needful places. Better at tracking land animals by scent than the Raven and better on its feet. Quiet hunters, great jumpers, and (contrary to popular opinion) usually loyal when well-treated.

3. The Phoenix.
This is a fantasy world, right? So fantasy animal. Can fly like the Raven, but faster, and unlike Cat or Raven can put up a serious fight against a formidable adversary when needed. Also, regenerates when killed. Which is amazing and highly useful.

I just finished reading one of the most critically acclaimed fantasy books of our time, The Name of the Wind. It's book one of the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, who takes an interminably long time to write anything but only writes excellent books. While his world-weaving is interesting enough on its own, the word-weaving is unsurpassed in anything I have yet read. Without giving anything away, it's a story within a story, a tale woven by a master storyteller. I can't wait to read the second book, which is out (The Wise Man's Fear), though work compels me to buckle down at least for the next several weeks. And I really can't keep up the pace of staying up between 2 to 4 am for a several consecutive days, like I did with Name of the Wind. Read it!

Color me pleasantly surprised! I also like cats very much (though dogs are ok too).

As for the non-pets... I think the snake is the lie. We have lots of frogs and spiders here, so I'm biased.

I have not read Wheel of Time, though I know some who have. A good friend of mine read them all and said it wasn't worth it; he finished in part because of "sunk opportunity costs": he had invested so much time into them, he wanted to finish them. He said Sanderson's last three books were the best, and would have been better if he was working off his own material. Basically Jordan is the master-describer, but is dreadfully slow moving the plot along, particularly in the middle and later books - in part because he didn't want to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. What he originally thought would be a 6-book series became a 13-book monstrosity. So when we bemoan 3-part Hobbit film trilogies, we should also blame folks like Jordan who did the same thing to his books and set the precedent. So the Wheel of Time is one of the bestselling High Fantasy series, but is just not worth reading through all of it.

I've heard nothing but good stuff about Earthsea. How much of a time commitment are they?

(As for my horse lie: I went to Austria in 1998 with family, part of a European trip. It was before they changed the currencies over to the Euro, so lots of money changing - Jesus would be displeased. My brother tried to order the horse, but my mother intervened.
The cricket I ate just a few weeks ago with some historian friends at my university. They are a wonderful, wacky bunch.
The duck was Mandarin Crispy Duck, very soft and tasty.)

I agree with Coír: you might not have a black car, but you definitely have a black dog, and you're not much of a cat person.

I have not eaten horse, it's true -- though I ate at a place that served it in Austria.

Duck I've had at a Chinese restaurant, and crickets I had for the first time several weeks ago.

Let's not forget Brandon Sanderson, most famous for completing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, but a prolific writer in his own right. I've only read Mistborn, but he's written loads besides.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson

I have eaten duck.
I have eaten horse.
I have eaten cricket.

I'm guessing you haven't been to Chicago.