How do I stop this annoying habit?

[bibop]

I've had my cat for a few years...he is going on 9 years old. He has this irritating habit. He scratches the bed (it's a fabric ottoman bed) and the sofa for attention and when he thinks I should be doing something other than what I am doing. He does it in the morning when he thinks it's time for me to get up. He does it if I'm watching something online or not paying attention to him. If I turn my attention to him he keeps doing it. I feel like he's just being a little git for no reason.

He gets attention daily, lots of it. He is played with and brushed, and stroked, and talked to and fussed over. He loves watching videos on Youtube so I can park him in front of the laptop like a child. But he acts like a spoilt kitten at times. I've talked sternly to him and raised my voice when I've been upset with how persistent he is, and especially when he wakes me up with it, but he's very thick skinned and doesn't care. He keeps on doing it and it's worse in the winter. In the summer he's gone for hours on end hunting, and tends not to engage in this kind of behaviour.

He gets loads of attention, and I'm not sure why he does it. Any ideas?

It could be that if he's out more in the summer he'll be keeping his claws short by scratching tree trunks. If he's not going out so much the rest of the time maybe he just needs a big scratching post.

Thanks for the suggestion.

He already has a big scratching post that he uses a lot. It's literally next to the sofa and he could be scratching that instead, when he engages in this type of behaviour. I also clip his claws periodically so they don't get too long.

Scratching is often a form of scent-marking.

Does he have lots of cat furniture?

No, he only has the one cat scratching post. I will see if I can get some more, for upstairs. Thanks for the suggestion.

My cat used to scratch the textured wallpaper in the morning when she wanted me to get up and feed her - she did it because it worked; I reacted to stop her, so she learned that the action got the result she wanted. She doesn’t do it anymore because we’ve moved and don’t have wallpaper in the new house. She’s reverted to shouting at me instead 😸 and she scratches her cardboard scratcher.

TL:DR they do it because it gets them what they want.

I've tried ignoring him when he does it (I actually have an old couch so I don't care about it) but he's incredibly persistent and has a will of steel.

A bit of context: he has a naughty, devilish streak. He enjoys destroying things. In our old house we had blinds on the door. He used to purposely try to destroy them if he felt I wasn't coming to open the door quick enough. He also had a cat door nearby!! He would look at me as if to say, "if you don't move quicker, lady, I'm going to f*ck these blinds up." If I left him to it and didn't open the door, he'd get his paws/claws tangled up in the blinds and then cry for help, as if to say "damn it! look what you made me do!"

I think he was separated from his mother as a kitten too early and he didn't get all the discipline he should have, to stop him from being an irritating little git.

They can be little shits, can’t they? Our furry overlords 😻

Yup! 😂My last cat was an angel in comparison.

My late, adorable little Bubbles loved to be let out of the front (low set) window despite having a cat flap, and regardless of the weather. If I didn't jump up to open it quickly enough she would knit the net curtains until I had to pay attention. Another thing she did was use the recliner as a scratching post. The late evil Oscar did it too, but only when the scratching post needed replacing, and if I told him off he stopped. Bubbles would stare at me in astonishment if told off, then renew her efforts. I'd have to walk over there and then she'd pretend I was a monster and run away.

Our current two finished off the net curtains in a week or so of arrival, so we now have a sturdier voile curtain that's too close woven to admit claws (much). I've given up on trying to save the recliner. They have plenty of scratching posts, sisal, fabric and cardboard, which they do use as well, and I don't think they're evil or making a point, I think they just like the height and/or texture. They do stop temporarily if I ask, but they'll be back again when I'm not looking so what's the point?

I'd definitely go for more furniture - ideally something like a cat tree so he can go up high.