We always used Fresh Step at my house growing up but, I think it's because it was available in bulk at Costco. I've read good things online about the Breeze system. Have you tried that one? It's made by Tidy Cat.
I used to love feeding my cat yogurt. I'd only give it a few licks of mine. It was just the dannon vanilla. I figured it wasn't too bad for him. Whenever I had it in my hand watching tv or something, he would sit right next to me and wait for me to give him a turn.
While you're watching the beagles, you may want to watch this video with them of the first ever Winter Dog Olympics. They are actually at Whistler Mountain Canada. They are dogs with their trainers from the US and Canada. The video is really cool and I always keep my dog entertained watching...
Shy cats will eventually get used to you with time. Same cannot always be said for guests.
One strategy I use is find items the cat likes and uses to make a safe association with. For example, one of my cats that is very shy like laundry baskets, and the towels she lies on. So I use those...
Those pics of the cats in the trees are great! Never seen that.
My cats love trees, but more to hang out under and amongst the presents. The really only go for dangly low ornaments. As mentioned, and clearly demonstrated by those pics, all cats are different. You may want to consider...
I have one shy cat too. Stays in her "safe zones" and rarely wanders out. I read an article below from petcentric on scaredy cats that mentions the critical time for a cat is 2-7 months old, and if not properly socialized, could remain a shy cat, and tech others (the new kitten) to be shy as...
I recently put collars on both mine after them going without for years. The purpose was to get a tag on them which i knew the would not like. I had to start with the collar with nothing on it for a couple weeks. They tried to rip it off for the first few days. I them put on a small dangly...
The fact that they open just a little probably encourages him. You could try installed cabinet magnets that hold the doors shut. I imagine you could pick these up at a large home store