Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper

The place is the planet Zarathustra there you will accompany Little Fuzzy and his family who aided by a few friends as they struggle to have fuzzies recognized as a sapient species with dire consequences if they fail.

Many years (four decades!) ago the book ‘Little Fuzzy’ was handed to me by a family member who had just finished it.  On the cover was a lean older man with a furry little bipedal creature on his shoulder and four more of the creatures around him.  The man was carrying a what appeared to be a futuristic rifle and his little companion was carrying a metallic spear-like tool with a blade on one end and a ball on the other end.