Kibbles are food. This is not optional. Cats which do not eat become sick and cannot do anything except lie under their blankets.
Milk speeds breeding. This is optional. You can Cuddle a cat for half an hour per day for free and get the same effect. Doing neither simply lets your cats produce boxes and the base rate.
Without milk or cuddling, it takes about 10 days to reach 100% love to have a box. With milk or cuddling, it takes about 7 days. Cats under 7 days old will not drink milk.