synergy with sorcerer/cleric

[Ettina]

OK, I'm planning a sorcerer/cleric wererat with a focus on mind control, who uses his dire rat form to pose as another character's familiar or animal companion. (Meanwhile mind-controlling said character, using mostly charm person and hypnotism.) But I'm having trouble deciding what class the guy he's the 'companion' of should be. Making him a wizard or sorcerer seems boring and redundant.

So, what are some classes that:

a) can get a dire rat familiar or animal companion (or other similar class-based servant) by 3rd level or lower? (Familiar would be easier, since then my wererat can feel free to act smarter than a normal dire rat.)

b) would synergize well with a sorcerer/cleric using mind affecting spells?

[Psyren]

Imp. Familiar has a catch-all clause that may help:

"The list in Table: Improved Familiar by Alignment presents only a few possible improved familiars. Almost any creature of the same general size and power as those on the list makes a suitable familiar. Nor is the master’s alignment the only possible categorization. For instance, improved familiars could be assigned by the master’s creature type or subtype, as shown in Table: Improved Familiar by Type/Subtype."

So you can justify nearly anyone with a dire rat. From an in-universe perspective there's nothing to justify at all - that sorcerer simply has a dire rat familiar and nobody knows preisely how that works.

Your bigger problem is that dire rats are pretty big - the size of dogs. I'm not sure anyone will buy a familiar that size.