Yes, the rules for creating magical animals are a mess. We had a long debate here about characteristics, which I'm not sure ever reached a clear conclusion. From my standpoint, I say you should just try and make up a magical animal that works as best as you can. Not all magical animals will look identical. there are some virtues and qualities that are essential and others that may not be. For example, Aeolus the talking horse may be short-winded for a horse. But instead of taking a flaw, he doesn't take the associated virtues or qualities to become long-winded. In contrast, keen eyesight on a hawk is probably its essential nature and should be kept. Make your best judgement, But I don't think magical animals are cookie cutouts with every one of a particular kind being just the same as every other. There isn't one type of black cat that all black cats must look like. They vary just like people do, albeit with some essential features.
Cool. I was thinking along the same lines, like perfect balance on a cat. I was going to propose using the Bjorner rules once an animal is being played as a character, by that I mean all the animal breed qualities get separated from character virtues and flaws. Then to increase mental traits use Improved Characteristics for points for the particular animal.