Was the car tuned to incorporate the catconv. for passing emissions?
id say yes....that's a large restriction your removing from the exhaust system.. if you have a wide band in the car you could take it for a ride and watch the wide band. if she goes leaner then she was with the cats on then for sure. if it stays the same then you could try leaving it.
if you really dont know what your looking at, you may want to take it up and have it checked on dyno though.