Well, I was rather disgusted by this behavior--Pippin did the same thing, and I began to suspect that he liked scaring himself--so I decided the kittens were on their own after this. They could deal with the vacuum cleaner as they wished.
Apricot, of course, is a sensible cat and hides himself. He moves when I have the vacuum cleaner's back turned, so to speak, and the hallway has been finished and is clear for a run to the bedroom. This hasn't changed and I don't actually think it ever will. He has, however, started coming out sooner and sooner after I put the cleaner away, and yesterday he came out before I had it in the closet! (After, of course, it was no longer running.)
Yesterday Thimble apparently decided that his supervisory duties extended to the the vacuum cleaning. He climbed the tree in the pink room and settled in to watch me from the beginning. He did really well until I started using the non-rotating brush extension to clean the bottom parts of the cat tree. (I wasn't planning on doing the level he was on, or above it, but he didn't know that, I guess.)
At that point he lost his nerve so completely that he fled to the kitchen, and when I got there eventually (it's the end, the pink room is the beginning) he fled from the kitchen in an utter panic.
Colby had put himself in the living room to begin with, and watched me while I cleaned that room, and then moved himself to the kitchen. When I got to the kitchen and Thimble left hastily, he watched Thimble leave with a puzzled look on his face. I shrugged and started cleaning the kitchen floor and carpets.
Colby was in one of the cat trees. I started cleaning the other one with the brush extension. He disengaged himself from the cat tree he was in, walked the edge of the table over to the one I was just finishing up, and climbed onto it.
I observed this in astonishment. I still had the brush extension set up as I was just about to put it back on the cleaner and continue with the floor.
Colby looked curious. He was watching the brush, but with a "what is that" expression instead of a "save me from vacuum monsters!" look.
I moved the brush closer to him, slowly, and watching his body language and his face the whole time. He leaned forward and sniffed the curve of the brush. I held it still for the inspection. Then when he pulled back, starting to look a little like, "okay, now I've had enough," I withdrew the implement and put it back on the cleaner, finishing the kitchen with Colby watching from the cat tree.
Perhaps one day I will be able to use the brush to brush him?
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