I logged into a hunter I have only to find that my melee weapons can't be used now.

Anyhow, I am looking to knock the dust off of a twink hunter and have a few questions.
Has the way a pet levels changed?
I know that in order for a pet to gain xp to level, the player had to gain xp to level. This provided a challenge for XP OFF twinks. Has this changed at all. I read around a little and see how the stable can level a pet to 3 levels lower than you.
For instance, let's say my character is level 29 and I want a Wind Serpent. According to this site's awesome database, there are no level 29 wind serpents to tame. I could go tame a level 27 rare named Sparkwing, but he would be 2 levels below me. Would that matter? Is there a drop in dps, etc? OR has the system been changed and would he either be able to level with my XP off or something else awesome?
That said, can you tame a pet of a higher level than your current level. I don't think you can, but like I said... I haven't played a hunter in a while.
Thanks for any help!!!!!