New litter of kittens

Question
Hi, There is a momma cat, who is fairly young, my guess is about a year or so old, who just gave birth on Thursday to a litter of 4 kittens.  She had made a home underneath our front stairs where we keep the garbage cans, shovels, etc.  She had the kitties there and has stayed with them since.  My concern is how to care for them.  We all like cats in our family, however, we have never raised or taken care of them, as we have a dog.  We have been checking up on her many times a day, and all seem to be okay. We gave her a box with towels, but she's not using it, she's just staying on top of the box of garbage bags where she gave birth.  We keep a bowl full of water for her and are giving her some tuna and rice and some chicken a few times a day.  The kittens seem to be eating well, and mom is staying near them.  However, the weather is cooler than it should be for this time of year (about 50-60 degrees) since she gave birth.  We can't bring them in b/c of our dog, and my brother has allergies to cats.  and i know if we call animal control, they will just take them away and probably get "rid" of them, which we don't want to see happen.  We are willing to take care of both mom and kitties as best we can, but like i said before, we're not so sure what to do to make sure they all grow and stay healthy and happy.  Also, every time I go to check on them, there is one kitty who seems to be always out of place. This one is the only one i hear noises from (not quite yet a meow), and it seems to always be trying to find its way amongst the other kitties.  Should I be worried, try to bottle feed it? Like I said, the momma cat is a stray, and we don't want to scare her away from her litter.  Are we doing things right? ot should we just give up and call Animal Control? Thanks for your time, Jessica.

Answer
Hi Jessica, Sometimes there is a small weak kitten that is not near the others and eventually will pass away. This is common and mother natures way of taking the weak kittens.
I think your idea of a box with blankets is the best thing to do right now. Try taking some of the garbage bags or whatever she has delivered on, and put it into the box with the kittens. Mom will usually accept this and be quite happy to have a nice cozy place for her babies. Mom cats can do a very good job of keeping the kittens warm especially if you can get them into a box. Then I would get a good quality kitten food for the mom to eat now. It will give her the extra nutrition she needs to nurse this handful of little ones. There is nothing else you can do at this point but please keep in touch with me and I will help you as the weeks go by.
Teresa