May 3 year old cat is afraid of new puppies?

I found a kitty about a year and a half ago. I am guessing he is around 3. A while back I babysat my father-in-laws two big dogs for a week and my cat freaked out and didn't come back for a week after they left. Well my husband and I got two new puppies of our own yesterday. At first they were really tired when we brought them home so they just slept on the floor. My cat came and slept about a foot away from them and didn't even care about them. Then later they went out to play and got all riled up and excited and then they were interested in my cat and kept getting in his face. My husband and I tried our best to stop them but it was kind of hard to. My kitty always ran away but stayed in our yard. He kept a far distance but watched the puppies with curiousity. Well he came back in last night to eat but then he left. Normally he stays in the house at night and sleeps with us. I am afraid he will run away for good. We put the puppies in there cage and he still seems timid of them. My husband was holding our cat when they were running around this morning and he started hissing and kind of dug into my husband a lil bit with his claws. He ate breakfast and then left. My cat loves to roam the neighborhood. He is very friendly with the whole neighborhood and one of his best friends is my neighbors poodle so I know he is okay with some dogs. I was hoping since they are little he wouldnt be afraid so much but since they are easily excitable it seems to make him scared. How can I keep my cat from getting scared of them? Even when we calm the puppies down and hold them down he refuses to come close anymore.