Closet Monster time again! What to do with cats?

I have hardwood floors through out my house, with oval braided rugs ,and leno in the bathroom ....so I can get by with the broom and my little battery operated sweeper for quite awhile....but the time has come for the BIG CLOSET MONSTER (Vacuum cleaner) to come out for Fall Cleaning. The rugs are really beginning to need it!
My cats, especially Toby HATES the vacuum. He is absolutly terrified!!!
I Put the cats in the bathroom and shut the door and stuff a towel under the door to keep out as much of the sound as possible....but when i`m done, and go in to retrieve the "boys" ,Toby is always up on the tallest cabinet, all hunkered down, mewing....and won`t come to me for awhile. Even when he does...he slinks around for hours with his little ears rotating like tiny radars, not wanting to be touched.
I HATE to have him be soooo scared....so avoid vacuuming....but the time has come!I have no other room to put them in besides the bathroom.
Any ideas out there???? (Wish I could get him to wear ear plugs!)

You know, I would just leave them be and vacuum without putting them up if it were me. Some of mine used to scatter with the wind, but now, most of them just lay there and look at it like they wish they could kill it. But "protecting" them from something that won't hurt them, doesn't allow them to get used to it. Set up a routine and vacuum a little bit every day at the same time. Let them run, skid, jump whatever, but don't take them and put them in a room where they can only imagine the scary monster is coming to get them. Let them see that over time, the monster isn't even hungry for cats.

awwww poor kitties. i like hissy's advice

Try to hover when your cats are in a different room.

Ok...I`ll give it a try...they`ll probably dive under or up on something as soon as they hear it rolling across the floor to be plugged in. Poor Toby and Tedy...esp Toby...he`s just so scared!
Thanks for the advice...I thought I was doing them a favor by getting them as far away from it as I could....I never gave a thought to the fact that they were thinking that the "unknown" might just be waiting to GET THEM

I would say just let them be, both of mine run under the bed when I vacuum but seem unperterbed once I shut it off--they come out as if nothing happened. Shutting them in the bathroom makes them think its a bigger deal than it really is--I'm sure they'll run away from the vaccuum but eventually they'll realize its not a big deal.

Yup, I agree with Hissy. Pixie is totally unfazed by the vaccuum, but Milo hates it so much. He runs under the bed as soon as I pick it up and say it's vaccuumer time. He's fine as soon as I'm done though.

Bakker doesn't mind the vaccuum cleaner but the others move to a different room.