How can I get a cat to stop peeing in my apartment specifically when he doesn't get attention in the mornings while I'm sleeping?

So I adopted a 5 year old cat a couple of months ago and he's been amazing so far. Doesn't scratch or claw anyone, uses the litter box instantly, etc. Except for his one really bad habit which is, I close my door at night when I go to sleep, so occasionally now (always at first) he will meow outside of my door in the mornings usually around 6 am or so. I just kept ignoring them since that's what you are supposed to do and he has gotten a lot better now with this. And before anyone asks, yes I fill up his food and water bowl every night and it is still 90% full in the mornings when I wake up (he really only likes to eat while I'm there), so it's not that reason, I think he just wants attention. I'd say maybe only 1 out of every 4 or 5 days he'll meow outside of my door.

The problem is though, that sometimes he will meow and I ignore it, then I come out of the bedroom an hour or so later and my bathroom mat is clawed up and he peed on it. Which is literally less than 5 feet away from his litter box. My first thought was okay, maybe it is not clean/it smells/whatever the reason is. And I found out it is not an issue of cleanliness because I hand washed and changed his entire litter box and that same night I cleaned it he did the same thing and peed on the rug. I also noticed that him peeing on the rug is much much more likely to happen on days when I sleep in, so I would come out of my room to go to the bathroom around 7 or so and would go back into bed and close my door. I think he is just doing this because he wants attention, but I can't let him in my room because he won't let me sleep past 4 am without knocking every single thing off my dressers (which he has never done except in my room in the mornings), and I don't want to become a slave to my cat and not be able to have any decorations out or anything.

So I really don't know what else to do and I'd love some opinions on what I could maybe try next. I don't know what else I can try besides just crating him at night and I don't really want to do that but I think I may be out of options.

submitted by /u/KloudToo
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