too soft stools female rabbit

Question
QUESTION: Hi Dana, Lucy, my lop eared 5 yr old has chronic, yet intermittent very loose stools, this is not the cluster pellets they reingest.  She'll have regular pellets for about 3 days then loose stools for about 2 days.  This has been going on for months.  I have her on a timothy pellet diet w/ grass mix hay, no alfalfa, twice a day she gets a good veggie mix of kale, spinach, parsley, cilantro, broccoli and carrots and sweet potatoes.  I have removed all fruits from her diet.  She is very active, has lots of room to run, has a neutered mate: seemingly healthy and happy.  what can I feed her to restore the balance back in her gut, or is it something else, I doubt if she will eat yogurt.  Thanks for your help!  Halla

ANSWER: Dear Halla,

Your bunny is showing signs of cecal dysbiosis:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

The most common causes are incorrect diet:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

and dental pain:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

Keep an eye on his poop output, and be sure you have a good vet who is familiar with rabbits.  (I'm not so sure about the one who told you to remove the fresh greens...):

www.rabbit.org/vets

Also please read this, to know how to tell if your bunny is sick, and what to do:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

Hope that helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Dana, your answer for me seemed to be for someone else. Did you get me mixed up?  I did not say a vet told me to remove greens, and bunny is a female.  I asked what to feed her to restore the gut flora balance.  I listed all her foods, please read again, and maybe answer again, Thanks, Halla

Answer
Dear Halla,

Sorry about the "fresh greens" confusion.  I'm answering an awful lot of questions these days and at the same time writing a final exam for my Botany class.  I think I'm getting fried!

The links I sent are appropriate for your rabbit, though. Whether male or female, your rabbit can suffer from cecal dysbiosis, characterized by runny or mushy stool.  Please read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

for a full explanation of this condition, and do note that the most common causes are incorrect diet, which you can check here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

Your description of her diet sounds fine, though.  So I'd move on to Most Common Culprit #2:  molar spurs.  These are especially common in lops, and at the age of five, your bunny is very likely to have sharp spurs causing enough stress to elicit GI tract upset and cecal dysbiosis.  Please read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

You'll need a good rabbit vet, experienced with rabbit dentistry, to help you, and you can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope that helps.

Dana