5am Cat Alarm Clock

I know exactly what you mean. Our cat does the same thing.
Especially on the weekends,She meows out when the alarm doesn't go off

there is a scratching post that dispenses treats when the cat uses it to encourage the cat to use the scratching post instead of the carpet or furniture. one of my cats does scratch at the carpet. she doesn't use any of the scratching posts like my other 2 but she does use the flat cardboard scratch pads. since the cat hair kind of aggervates my husbands allergies from time to time we keep our bedroom door closed. they're good about not scratching the door but they will meow at the door. as one of the previous posters said....they only know when they're hungry. they do however try to get us to feed them early almost every evening. i think thats just their nature. we hold strong though. we only feed them early if we know we wont be home at their normal feeding time. i also keep bird feeders right outside of one of the windows in the spare bedroom to help entertain them.