2000 Chevy Silverado Cat Converter

I recently had a tranny put in my 2000 chevy, my mechanic told me tht one of the cat converters were stopped up. He suggested removing them, i agreed and we went on. I noticed a pretty big gain in power since I already had flowmasters installed, but i heard tht it will affect my gas mileage negatively. Does any one want to comment on the pros and cons of catalytic converter removal, asside from the obvious environment issues?

Pros: Obviously your gonna get more hp... less restriction for exhaust flow. Less restriction should equal better fuel mileage.
 
Cons: ILLEGAL... when you go in for your yearly inspection they will certainly find that you dont have a cat. converter. (unless you know somebody) lol...
        And you are probably doubling your "carbon footprint" and spewing all those horrible emisions that are causing the ice caps to melt and are going to    flood the entire coastal bondries of the planet... J/K  Screw all that global warming crap. But seriously, save yourself the trouble and possibly a ticket and put that thing back on. If you like the hp gain Jegs sells a high flow cat. converter... it wont equal not having one at all but it is a lot less restrictive that the OEM. 
 
 

we dont have inspections in ky, thank goodness.

Look on eBay for replacements, if you are of a mind to replace.  Hi-Flow cats for around $50 each and free shipping.  Pretty good deal.

I have no experience with the Cat converter on the Silverado, but I have heard of "gutting" the cat on other vehicles to remove the restriction and still allow the vehicle to appear legal.