Paw-fect Presents

3 extra-special Mother's Day gift ideas from the Houston SPCA

Houston SPCA kitten

Name an adorable kitten after Mom.

Photo courtesy of Houston SPCA

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and if you’re wondering what to get your mother or the special woman in your life, the Houston SPCA has a few thoughtful (and philanthropic) gift ideas.

1. Name an orphaned kitten
Honor Mom by naming a kitten in the life-saving neonatal nursery. For only $30, she will receive a photo of the kitten with the personalized nursery card posted on their incubator.

When kitten season comes to an end in June, Mom will receive her second gift: a physical copy of the nursery card in the mail along with the kitten’s adorable pawprints. To guarantee delivery, donate before 11:59 pm on Thursday, May 11.

2. Expand the family with 50% off VIP pets
Celebrate Mom or become a pet mom yourself to experience the unconditional love of a homeless pet. Adopt a VIP (Very Important Pup) for half of their normal adoption fee, which includes a microchip, spay or neuter surgery, up-to-date vaccinations, free sample bag of Hill’s Science Diet pet food, and a post-exam from any VCA Animal Hospital.

Visit the Houston SPCA now through May 14 and look for the VIP logo on the animals' suites.

3. Honor Mom’s beloved pet
Another way to honor Mom is with a memory stone engraved with a custom, heartfelt dedication for her beloved pet. The stones will be featured in the beautiful Carol & Tommy Harper Courtyard with a serenity fountain that is located on the Houston SPCA’s William and Evelyn Griffin Campus for All Animals.

The personalized stones come in a variety of sizes, and donations for the custom stones are $500 or $1,000. Moms will receive a copy of what their stone will look like in time for Mother’s Day. To guarantee delivery, donate before 11:59 pm on Thursday, May 11.

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H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Downtown Houston skyline at night

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

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