$store_list_name = $prod[10];
    $category = $prod[11];
    $sub_category = $prod[12];
 
    $searchfor = $store_list_name . "->" . $category . "->" . $sub_category;
    $getcat = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM categories WHERE (overstock_id LIKE '%|".addslashes($searchfor)."|%');",$link);
    while ($p_row =mysql_fetch_array ($getcat) ) {
    $cat_name = stripslashes($p_row[cat_name]);
    $cat_id = $p_row[cat_id];
    $sub_of = $p_row[sub_of];
    }

    my $searchfor = $store_list_name . "->" . $category . "->" . $sub_category;
    my $search_by = $dbh->quote($searchfor);
    my $query = "SELECT * FROM categories WHERE overstock_id %|".$searchfor."|%";
    my $dth = $dbh->prepare($query);  
    $dth->execute();
    my $ref;
    while ($ref = $dth->fetchrow_hashref())
    {
    my $master_cat = $ref->{cat_id};
    my $sub_cat = $ref->{sub_of};
    }