Rabbit having ISS

Question
Hi Dana
I'm from India. I have a male bunny who's not neutered and 2+ years old. In the last couple of weeks,he has been having intermittent soft stools that accumulate between his testicles and also stick to his fur leaving him with a messy bottom. This has been happening every two or three days calling for his bottom to be cleaned frequently. He also makes plenty of normal,big,round poops during the night. His diet consists of grass,coriander leaves,pellets and sometimes,carrot tops. He's mostly eats coriander leaves and pellets though. I have tried giving him hay but he absolutely shows no interest. The amount of grass he eats is negligible.
He's very active,eating well,playing,has shown no signs of discomfort or pain and is his usual self. I regularly post my bunny worries on www.forum.ontariorabbits.org and was advised to cut back pellets and greens and give me lots of fresh grass and hay. I have done that but although I've reduced the quantity of greens and pellets I give my bun,he has hardly shown any interest in the grass/hay. The wierd thing is,in the last two days,the soft stools have suddenly disappeared and my bunny has hardly made any poops during the night. The little poop that he has made though is very tiny n not round and small in number. He's still very active,playful and eating his greens and pellets well. Is he having constipation?? There are no rabbit-savvy vets here in India. I fed my rabbits pellets for the very first time only when he was about 6 months old. Until then he was fed solely on greens and grass(of which he ate very little) and since then,there have been no changes in his diet.

He has a big room all to himself and is never caged. There was a time when he was about 6 months old when he has severe runny stool and gas problems. I was living in a different city then and moved to hometown soon after. Since then he's been perfectly healthy(for like 1.5 years).

I'm very worried that he's made very little,extremely tiny poops in the last 2 days. I wish there were something I could do before he falls ill. He has no pain n no gurgling in his tummy or anything. He's eating well and his usual self. He has been eating his cecals as usual. Please advise. How do i get my bunny to eat grass/hay if he absolutely wont do so on his own??

Answer
Dear Keerthi,

The condition you describe is consistent with cecal dysbiosis:

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

which may be caused by various things.  But the most common are incorrect diet:

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

and dental problems causing pain:

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

If the bunny's pellets contain seeds/nuts/fruit, etc. that can contribute to the problem.  Too much starch is a prime culprit.

But the smaller poops suggest that there is stress/pain involved, and that's why I'd have his molars checked for spurs.  I'm not sure about rabbit vets where you are, but you can try to find one via the lists linked here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If bunny stops pooping completely, please read:

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

and share this with your vet:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.pdf

I hope that helps.

Dana