Halloween costumes can be so much fun, especially when you have a small dog you lovingly refer to as your "pumpkin." Why not take the chance to dress your little pumpkin up as a pumpkin this year?!

Andrea did just that for her little girl Poppy, but learned the hard way that these costumes can cause some problems. Poppy’s pumpkin costume included a small hat that was the lid of the pumpkin. After an hour or so of trick-or-treating, Andrea looked down at Poppy to realize her little hat was missing. Figuring it got lost in the chaos of the trick-or-treating and supervising the kids going door-to-door, the family returned home happy and exhausted.

Two days later, though, something seemed very wrong with Poppy. She skipped meals and began vomiting, nearly uncontrollably. She couldn't even keep down water! A worried Andrea called whiskerDocs right away. It wasn't until that phone call that Andrea remembered the pesky pumpkin hat. Maybe it didn't get lost. Maybe Poppy ate it!

Andrea headed off to the emergency room with Poppy, and x-rays showed she had a blockage in her belly. After surgery, Poppy's surgeon and Andrea shared disbelief that Poppy had eaten the cute hat she had worn with her costume.

Andrea learned a valuable lesson that day. No matter how cute the costume, our pets have trouble understanding the concept and usually just view them as annoyances. They can be pretty quick to get them off by whatever means necessary!