use strict;
no strict "refs";
use CGI qw/:standard/;

my (@compare, %other0, @catnames);

%other0 = (
'cat0'=>'3',
'cat1'=>'3'
);

@compare = ('testone', 'testtwo');
@catnames = ('other0','other1');

print "this one works: $other0{'cat1'}\n";
print "problem here: ${$catnames[0]}{'cat1'}\n $catnames[0]->{'cat1'}";