Karloff is dumb (and needs help with breeding)

[Karloff Foehammer]

Good morning everyone!

I've got a question about breeding. I am trying to make a pure line of foxie blondies with foxie ears and blonde-streaked whiskers (foxie foxie blondie blondies).

I've gotten one or two one-off cats, but have not yet been able to start a line of them. My problem is this: i'm working on my third generation of cross-breeding and suddenly my foxie ears have disappeared. i've bred two cats identical to this one:

[img]
foxy breeding 1 by karlofffoehammer1, on Flickr[/img]

further proof:
[img]
foxy breeding 2 by karlofffoehammer1, on Flickr[/img]

the mom and dad are brother and sister, so the grandparent's lines are the same, but for reference, here's the dad:


foxy breeding 3 by karlofffoehammer1, on Flickr
my questions are these:

i started to ask about this in the group chat and someone mentioned that once you breed siblings together so many times, the recessive gene (in this case ody boo boo ears) will show up 3 out of 4 times. Is this true?

I can't back breed Nicholas or Catherine because Baba Yaga and Koschei have retired, but I have a few cats from that generation (i think). If i back breed Catherine or Nicholas with one of their aunts or uncles, will I be able to solidify the ears that I want?

If the recessive gene does become more dominant, why aren't the shade (illume) or the whiskers (blonde-streaked) popping out as well?

have i totally screwed up my breeding plan? what can i do to get things back on track?

thanks!