Final answer:
The most likely meaning of 'domesticated' in the context of the sentence is 'tamed as pets,' indicating a long-term social relationship between humans and animals.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most likely meaning of domesticated in the provided sentence is tamed as pets. This is because the context of the sentence is referring to the historical bond between humans and cats, indicating a long-term social relationship rather than the other options like hunted as food, trained for labor, or traded for resources. Throughout history, the domestication process has involved selecting animals for certain desirable characteristics, such as temperament and the ability to form social bonds with humans, transforming them from wild species into companions that live alongside people in their households.