Cats (26) to the ones kept as pet today started showing up in art work thousands

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 25 to 29.
Cats of all kinds are present in the legends, religion, mythology, and history of many different cultures. Cave paintings created by early humans display different types of wild cats (25)______ are now extinct, or no longer around. Many of these great beasts saw humans as food, but were hunted by humans in return. Cats (26)______ to the ones kept as pet today started showing up in art work thousands of years ago. For example, the ancient Egyptians believed cats were the sacred, or special, animal of a goddess named Bast. They believed that Bast often appeared as a cat, so many ancient Egyptians respected and honoured cats and kittens. (27)______ ,other cultures feared cats or thought that they brought illnesses and bad luck. Today, with millions kept as pets in homes around the world, cats have become important members of (28)______ families. No one knows for sure when or how cats became very popular household pets. It's possible that people noticed how cats hunted mice and rats, so they set food and milk out to keep the cats near their homes. This helped to prevent too many of these rodents from coming into homes and eating people's food or (29)______ sickness.