The objective of the study was to determine the analgesic and systemic effects of subarachnoid administration of xylazine hydrochloride (XY), lidocaine hydrochloride (LI) and their combination (XYLI) in goats. Six healthy goats were used in a prospective randomised study. Three treatments were administered to each goat, with 1-week intervals between each treatment. Treatments consisted of 0.1 mg/kg xylazine, 2.5 mg/kg lidocaine and a combination of xylazine 0.05 (mg/kg) and lidocaine (1.25 mg/kg). Analgesia, ataxic, sedative, cardiovascular and respiratory effects, and rectal temperature were evaluated before (baseline) and at 5, 10, 15, and 30 min after subarachnoid injection, and then at 30-min intervals until loss of analgesia occurred. Lidocaine induced analgesia in 3.1 +/- 1 min (mean +/- SD), which lasted for 66 +/- 31 min. Heart and respiratory rates and blood pressure remained unchanged after lidocaine-induced analgesia. Xylazine induced analgesia in 9.5 +/- 2.6 min and xylazine-lidocaine in 3.2 +/- 1.2 min. Xylazine-lidocaine-induced analgesia lasted longer (178.3 +/- 37 min) than that induced by xylazine (88.3 +/- 15 min). The XYLI treatment induced prolonged motor blocking (115 min), more than the XY (80 min) and LI (90 min) treatments. Both xylazine and xylazine-lidocaine caused significant decreases in the heart and respiratory rates, but not in blood pressure. The combination of xylazine (0.05 mg/kg) and lidocaine (1.25 mg/kg) can be administered subarachnoidally (between last lumbar vertebra and 1st sacral vertebra) to produce prolonged (> 2.5 h) analgesia of the tail, perineum, hind limbs, flanks and caudodorsal rib areas in goats. Despite the prolonged analgesia, using this combination is desirable for relieving postoperative pain, but it may be a disadvantage due to a motor block when dealing with goats.