Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't feed your cat until 7am no matter what. Ignore all foot rubs and meows. He'll eventually learn and give up. Operant conditioning. Watch out though for that extra-hard last ditch effort he will put out before giving up. Stay strong.
We are 12 years in and the cat is howling away. Same feed time everyday. She is evil. If her dinner is felt to be sub par she goes into the sleeping child and claws the kid. She has come very close to a final vet visit with this behaviour.
Hey, try vinyl claw caps first. Google:
cat vinyl nail caps
Animals are complex machines, just as people are. They are mirroring a lot of our traits, as anger or ignorance.
As a final resort, give the cat up by letting someone adopt it. That actually works! Good luck!