thanks, everyone!

all suggestions are good. I suppose a water gun *may* work, though I doubt it'll do anything while I'm away. He has this horrible thing where he would scratch at the bedroom door and meow ever so annoyingly after my alarm goes off. I've been throwing bottle caps at the door, and he's stopped scratching, though he still meows.

I can do the towel, but I'm just afraid it'll work only once. As soon as he sees the towel the next time I'm sure he'll run and hide. I guess my only choice really is to try and desensitize him over time by touching his paws. *sigh*